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Social and Affordable Housing Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 May 2018

Tuesday, 1 May 2018

Ceisteanna (444, 445)

Barry Cowen

Ceist:

444. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 1619 of 17 April 2018, the number of the 1,700 ha owned by local authorities that have been used for social or affordable residential units since July 2016; the number of residential units that have been constructed on the lands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18622/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Barry Cowen

Ceist:

445. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the steps that have been taken since July 2016 to facilitate the construction of social or affordable residential units on State-owned land; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18623/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 444 and 445 together.

The development of any residential land in housing authority ownership is in the first instance a matter for the local authority concerned, including its elected members. I want to see local authorities realise new social and affordable homes from their lands without delay, with particular emphasis on prioritising those sites with the greatest potential to deliver housing at scale, in the short to medium term.

The active management of the publicly owned housing land bank is part of a range of complementary actions being progressed under the Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, designed to accelerate and increase housing output. Details of some 1,700 hectares of land in local authority and Housing Agency ownership have been published on the Rebuilding Ireland Housing Land Map as available at

http://rebuildingireland.ie/news/rebuilding-ireland-land-map/.

To date, State-led residential construction has been primarily to help meet the needs of households in the lowest income brackets, i.e. for social housing. With increased investment to deliver 50,000 new social homes by 2021, the significant expansion of the social housing build programme is evident in the Quarter 4 2017 Social Housing Construction Status Report, which was published on 19 April. The programme includes 850 schemes (or phases) at the end of last year, delivering over 13,400 homes, a very substantial increase on the 8,430 homes in the programme a year earlier. At end 2017, 2,512 social housing homes were completed, with another 3,650 under construction and a further 1,912 homes about to go on site, with the remaining 5,300 progressing through the various stages of planning, design and procurement. The full report can be accessed at

http://rebuildingireland.ie/news/minister-murphy-publishes-social-housing-construction-status-report-q4-2017/ .

The social housing Public Private Partnership (PPP) programme, provides for an investment of €300 million and is expected to deliver 1,500 social housing units in total, via three bundles. The first bundle comprises six PPP sites, delivering over 500 units in the Greater Dublin Area. Two of the sites are located in Dublin City, with one each in South Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Louth. The second bundle, comprising eight PPP sites, will deliver over 450 units across the country. Three of the sites are located in County Cork, with one each in the cities of Galway and Waterford, and further sites in Counties Clare, Kildare and Roscommon. Sites for the third bundle are currently being identified and will be announced in the coming months.

Work is ongoing to update the Rebuilding Ireland Housing Land Map to reflect the relevant elements of the Q4 2017 Social Housing Construction Status Report and the PPP Programme and details will be published on the Map, at the link referred to above, once finalised.

I have now advised all local authorities of their minimum Social Housing Targets both for 2018 and also for the multi-annual period to 2021, details of which can be accessed on my Department's website at:

http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/social-housing/social-and-affordable/minister-murphy-publishes-quarter-4-2017-social-housing.

In relation to the delivery of affordable homes, I am providing funding of €25 million, over 2018 and 2019, to unlock local authority-owned lands specifically for affordable homes to buy or rent. I intend to issue a call for proposals shortly in this regard. Overall, initial estimates suggest that in the region of 3,000 new affordable homes can be made available through a range of schemes and initiatives, with the long-term ambition for some 10,000 additional affordable homes to be provided for sale or rent, as the full range of initiatives are rolled out.

Dublin City Council already has two sites, at O'Devaney Gardens and Oscar Traynor Road, being procured on the basis of a 30% social; 20% affordable purchase and 50% private market housing mix. Dublin City Council is progressing the procurement of these sites as a top priority. In total, the two sites will deliver over 1,200 new build homes. Around 240 will be available for affordable purchase. South Dublin County Council is also progressing one of its major sites, capable of yielding almost 1,000 new homes, at Kilcarberry in Clondalkin, on a 30% social and 70% private mix.

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