Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2020
893. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his assessment of the number of new houses needed each year for the next three years; the proportion of those that will be social, affordable and private; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12242/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraDetails on the number of households qualified for social housing support in each local authority area are set out in the statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA). The most recent summary, conducted in June 2019, shows that 68,693 households were assessed as qualified for and being in need of social housing support. This represents a decrease of 3,165 households or 4.4% on the last assessment in June 2018. Indeed, since the Government's Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan was launched in 2016, the numbers have decreased from 91,600 to 68,693, a reduction of 25%.
The SSHA provides local authorities with information about current demand for social housing. It is also important that local authorities are aware of, and planning for, the potential future demand for social housing when they are preparing their Housing Strategies as part of their Development Plan process. To this end, National Policy Objective 37 of the National Planning Framework (NPF) requires that each local authority should undertake a "Housing Need and Demand Assessment" for their area. This will be important in estimating likely future housing need across the tenures, referred to by the Deputy.
Work on the development of the HNDA process is ongoing in my Department. Research on structural housing demand at county level is being progressed with the ESRI and development of a HNDA tool with the Scottish Centre for Housing Market Analysis is also in train. This new evidence-based approach will form the basis of a more accurate and consistent projection of demand for the different tenures of housing.
Overall levels of housing demand will depend on underlying economic conditions and factors such as net migration and rates of household formation. The NPF estimates an overall long-run average level of at least 25,000 homes per annum to 2040, that would increase to at least 30,000 per annum in the years to 2027.
