Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 September 2019
61. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of completions he expects for the full year in 2019 in view of the fact there were 2,022 local authority new build housing completions in 2018 and only 251 local authority new build housing completions in quarter 1 of 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37678/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe total target for social housing build output under Rebuilding Ireland in 2018 was for 4,969 additional homes to be provided under a variety of mechanisms. By year-end, 4,811 had been delivered, representing 97% delivery against target. This included 4,251 new build homes, and 560 vacant local authority dwellings brought back into use following substantial remediation.
Focusing on one specific build delivery stream in isolation is failing to see that new build homes are delivered for households on social housing waiting lists through a range of build programmes and schemes. When setting targets for build activity, it is recognised that there will be a blend of delivery required to achieve the maximum, sustainable output and deliver the highest volume of homes with the available capital and current budgets.
Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) are a vital component of all build activity for social housing. The properties provided through AHBs under these mechanisms are allocated to households on waiting lists in the same manner as local authority properties. In addition, through Part V delivery, even more homes are available to local authorities for tenants.
Accelerating local authority build on local authority land is of course a very important focus of all stakeholders, and this Government wants to continue to drive further increased delivery in that regard. Progress to date has been very strong, with an almost doubling of local authority new build output between 2017 and 2018.
My Department continues to engage very intensively with all local authorities to keep momentum on new build output as high as possible. By nature of the construction cycle, a substantial volume of output is weighted towards year end, as seen in previous years.
When we examine the pipeline for new development, there are reasons to be optimistic in terms of meeting our ambitious delivery plans for 2019 and beyond. The Construction Status Report covering the period to June 2019 shows that there are now over 22,000 homes in the build pipeline, up more than 8% on quarter 1 of this year.
It should be noted that the number of homes on site at the end of June 2019 was 6,439. Given the healthy pipeline and expected delivery profile over the coming two quarters, I am confident that we are on track to meet our targets.
