Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 January 2022
317. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if an audit has been carried out to determine the best value for money to his Department of direct build local authority houses compared with housing assistance payment, HAP, or rent support given that neither of the latter schemes present a permanent resolution to the applicants' housing needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3544/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Housing for All strategy is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. The annual targets include the delivery of 88,400 new social homes and 53,800 new affordable homes in the period 2022-2030.
Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the Land Development Agency (LDA) and €5bn funding through the Housing Finance Agency. The Government policy is to increase the supply of social housing through build programmes and I have issued targets to local authorities for period 2022-2026 to deliver 47,600 new build social homes. However, while we will continue to support households in HAP tenancies and to support households on the social housing waiting list to obtain a HAP-supported tenancy in the private-rented sector, as the numbers of new build social homes increases under Housing for All, there will be a reduced reliance on HAP.
In October 2020, the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, published a Spending Review on the Social Housing Build Programme. The Review examined the social housing build programme over the years 2016 to 2019 and considered issues such as Use of Build Delivery; Type of Units, Cost & Speed of Delivery and Cost Efficiency and Market Interaction. The Review is available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/daf0c-spending-review-papers-2020/#housing
