Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 November 2021
99. Deputy Francis Noel Duffy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the delivery of housing under the Housing for All plan (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54957/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraHousing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. Over 300,000 new homes will be built by the end of 2030, including a projected 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes.
The Plan is backed by historic levels of investment with in excess of €20bn through the Exchequer, the Land Development Agency and the Housing Finance Agency over the next 5 years. This will provide the sector with the stability and certainty it needs.
Indications of increased construction activity are becoming evident which will help increase the supply and availability of housing.
There is a strong supply pipeline, with latest Commencement Notices data showing that in the year to September 2021, 30,519 residential units were commenced, up 40% year-on-year, when compared to the same period to September 2020. The number of homes for which Commencement Notices were provided in September 2021 (3,203) was up 48% on August’s figure.
11,150 units were granted planning permission in Q2 2021, a 16.6% increase compared with pre-pandemic levels in Q2 2019 (9,566).
The CSO’s Quarter 3 2021 New Dwellings Completion Report shows the number of new homes becoming available for use in the year was 24,156: a 7% increase when compared to the year to Q3 2020 (22,585).
With regard to social and affordable housing delivery, and in line with Housing for All, each local authority is required to develop a Housing Delivery Action Plan by end December 2021. The Plans will set out details of both social and affordable housing delivery, as appropriate, over the period 2022-2026, in line with targets set under Housing for All.
The Social Housing Construction Status Report (CSR) published by my Department outlines the ongoing delivery of social housing across the country. The CSR provides a breakdown of local authority and approved housing body social housing new-build activity from 2016 to date. The Report includes scheme level details on the completion of social housing new builds, as well as information on each construction scheme as it progresses through the design and tender processes.
The most recent report for Quarter 2, shows that there were 8,755 social homes onsite with an additional 9,128 homes at design and tender stage. During Quarter 2 2021, 137 new construction schemes, (1,883 homes) were added to the pipeline.
Early delivery of affordable housing will principally arise from previously approved Serviced Sites funding of local authority schemes where construction is commenced and, in early 2022, via the First Homes scheme. There are three Serviced Sites Fund projects on-site which will cumulatively assist in the delivery of 205 affordable homes. €55m has been allocated to the Affordable Housing Fund (formerly the Serviced sites Fund) which will support the delivery of 500 affordable purchase homes in 2022, to be delivered through local authorities.
In addition, the Affordable Housing Act, 2021 provides the statutory basis for a new tenure in Ireland: Cost Rental. Budget 2021 allocated €35 million to the Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) scheme which enabled the first Cost Rental homes to be delivered this year by the Clúid AHB at Taylor Hill, Balbriggan. The tenanting processes for further Cost Rental homes at Enniskerry Road in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Barnhall, Leixlip, County Kildare, are currently underway. In total, 390 Cost Rental units will be delivered through this funding, with the initial focus being in the Greater Dublin Area and Cork. A further €75 million was allocated in Budget 2022 to help meet the Housing for All target of 750 Cost Rental homes in 2022.
Housing for All requires an innovative construction sector that will support the development of its existing workforce, including through lifelong learning, and presents an attractive and sustainable career for those preparing to enter the labour force.
The industry will be supported in returning existing workers to full employment, and there will be proactive engagement to attract international labour, where supply is restricted locally. In this regard, Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English TD, recently announced changes to the employment permits system for workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), in order to increase the number of skilled construction workers.
In support of the development of Housing for All, the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) undertook an analysis of the labour required to deliver on the Plan’s annual targets, including at occupational level. This analysis has informed the labour demand forecast of 67,500 i.e. an additional 27,500 workers, for the construction of new builds by 2025, in order to keep pace with an expected graduated increase in annual supply to 33,000 homes in that year. Efforts to expand the workforce will operate to this timeline.
These efforts are being informed by a range of forecasts, undertaken by the EGFSN, across all construction activities. Forecasts in the EGFSN’s 2020 report Building Future Skills: The Demand for Skills within Ireland’s Built Environment Sector to 2030 are being updated in line with the labour demand estimates for housing, as well as estimates from an EGFSN study on the Climate Action Plan’s retrofit targets and the construction of renewable energy projects.
Education and training output will also be aligned and expanded with these requirements, in order to accommodate the different demands on the construction sector, for example through implementation of the Action Plan on Apprenticeship 2021-2025, which aims to increase apprenticeship registrations to 10,000 per annum.
As of Q2 2021, CSO data indicates that there were 127,100 employed in the construction sector. It must be borne in mind that the workforce involved in new build construction is just a sub-set of this figure.
Through the EGFSN Secretariat's close engagement with relevant stakeholders, the analysis, which includes detailed breakdown and forecasts of skills needs at occupational level, as well as recommendations aimed at enhancing skills supply across the Built Environment sector, is informing skills planning across Government, industry and the education and training system, to ensure that the Government's ambitions in Housing for All are delivered upon.
