Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 January 2019
91. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if a study or research has been carried out to ascertain the way in which the increase in student accommodation has addressed housing demand issues; and if the increase in student accommodation has seen a corresponding reduction in the numbers on housing lists. [1178/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraSpecific research into the provision of student accommodation nationally was undertaken by the Higher Education Authority in 2015. The ‘Report on Student Accommodation: Demand and Supply' identified a significant unmet demand nationally for student accommodation in the context of a forecast student population increase to nearly 193,000 by 2024.
An Inter-Departmental Working Group on Student Accommodation was established by the Department of Education and Skills in 2015 comprising stakeholders from the Higher Education Institutes, Union of Students in Ireland, NAMA and other relevant Government Departments. Policy measures to increase the supply of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) were formulated by the group, including addressing the planning and development finance aspects in assembling new development projects. The Government’s Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness identified the under-supply of PBSA in Ireland and the significant related adverse impact that this deficit was having on the wider private rental sector. The increased provision of PBSA was established as a key priority in addressing the challenges in the wider housing sector and a target of 7,000 additional PBSA bed spaces to be delivered by end 2019 was set.
Related reforms were included in the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016, which provided for the fast-tracking of planning applications for student housing construction projects of greater than 200 bed-spaces to An Bord Pleanála, and this commenced on 3 July 2017. In addition, the legislation provides for the availability of low-cost financing from the Housing Finance Agency to the Higher Education Institutes specifically to support the delivery of new student accommodation projects.
These and other measures by my Department have assisted in delivering a significant increase in the provision of student accommodation developments nationally. Recent analysis from the Higher Education Authority has indicated that, by September 2018, over 5,500 bed-spaces had been delivered since the publication of Rebuilding Ireland. Some further 4,800 plus bed-spaces are currently under construction nationally, with over 7,900 further bed-spaces having received planning permission and are yet to commence construction. These figures indicate that the PBSA construction targets will be met, and indeed surpassed, and that important progress is being made in the provision of newly constructed accommodation for this distinct segment of housing demand.
The increase in new student accommodation, as detailed above, is contributing to the increase in the overall stock of residential accommodation nationally. As it is targeted specifically at students, it would not be expected to have a direct impact in terms of reducing social housing waiting lists; however, its direct impact in reducing student-related housing demand pressures in the general private rental sector indirectly supports the capacity to deliver social housing supports through schemes such as the Housing Assistance Payment. This is one of a range of factors that has contributed to the reductions in social housing waiting lists over recent years, as set out in the annual statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA). The most recently published SSHA indicates that there were 71,858 households on all local authority waiting lists as at 11 June 2018, a reduction of 22% on the comparable figure in 2016. Full details in relation to the 2018 SSHA are available on my Department's website at the following link:
https://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/summary_of_social_housing_assessments_2018_-_key_findings.pdf.
