Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 May 2018
42. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his definition of affordable housing; the way in which he will ensure that homes built on publicly owned land will be affordable to persons who are excluded by market prices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19790/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra78. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his definition of affordable housing; the number of units he plans to provide in this category in the next period; the way in which these units will be delivered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19837/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 42 and 78 together.
The delivery of more affordable homes, to buy or rent, particularly in areas where people are facing the greatest affordability challenge, is a major priority for Government. While there is no single universally accepted definition of housing affordability, the widely used internationally accepted benchmark is that households, particularly low- to moderate-income households, should ideally not be paying much more than one third of their disposable income on accommodation costs.
Of course, affordability and access to affordable housing are significantly influenced by the supply of homes to buy and rent and competition in the market. Therefore, the Government has taken significant action to increase housing supply through the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. This is having a significant impact, particularly for those on lowest incomes, with nearly 26,000 households having their social housing needs met in 2017, significantly ahead of target.
More generally and in order to increase overall house-building at scale, a suite of actions are underway, including, for example, actions to fund infrastructure, streamline planning, and reduce building costs. There is evidence that these measures are working with housing planning permissions and commencements growing by 27% and 41% respectively on an annual basis, based on the latest published data.
There is also evidence of large-scale residential developments securing planning permission through the new fast-track Strategic Housing Development (SHD) process in An Bord Pleanála.
The Government is committed to ensuring that housing is affordable for households on low to moderate incomes. Recognising that people want a choice of affordable purchase and rental, depending on their stage of life and circumstances, we are progressing both through a range of initiatives.
I announced new measures in January specifically targeted at delivering more affordable homes to households generally with maximum income of €50,000 for single applicants and €75,000 for joint applicants. Based on initial estimates, the initiatives have the potential to deliver more than 3,000 new affordable homes to buy or rent, with a target delivery of at least 10,000 new affordable homes in the medium term. The emphasis initially will be on delivering affordable homes from the public land bank, particularly in urban areas where affordability issues are greatest.
Recognising that there are enabling infrastructure requirements on some sites, I am also providing Exchequer funding of €25 million, over 2018 and 2019, as a key contribution towards the delivery of more affordable housing from local authority land.
