Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank both witnesses for their presentations. I will comment on the rental issue before I deal with affordable purchase. In both presentations we are talking about getting a pilot project up and running which was announced in 2015. We need to put the project in that context. If we are going to deliver cost rental in real terms that will make a significant difference to people, we cannot continue at the pace we are going at present. When one looks at the rental costs on the daft.ie report on rent affordability, one sees why this is crucial, particularly in Dublin as well as throughout the country.

In areas such as Walkinstown, Crumlin and Drimnagh, the average rent is approximately €1,427 per month. To purchase a home, if one were able to get a mortgage for a home of the same value, it would be about €710 per month. One is looking at a difference of just over 100%. That is an example of how broken the rental market is. That brings me back to affordable purchase. A major part of resolving the crisis will be allowing people to be able to buy their homes. I will revert to Mr. Baneham on the criterion for the affordable purchase scheme. That scheme itself has not been fully agreed but I would be interested to get Mr. Baneham's opinion on it.

The National Development Fiance Agency, NDFA is assisting the local authorities on the following schemes, O'Devaney Gardens, Oscar Traynor Road, St Michael's Estate and Ballymastone. Has the NDFA concluded its financial model and its work on that scheme with the local authorities? I know the local authorities are engaging in the tender stage. Is the NDFA happy that its financial model is completed or is it open to further change? I ask Mr. O'Neill that in the context of the presentation. If I take Ballymastone in particular, there is mention of 20% proposed for affordable purchase. My understanding is that there is 20% social housing element in that scheme as well. That is not mentioned in the presentation so I ask Mr. O'Neill to clarify the position. Also in all of these schemes there is a Government model - one that my party does not agree with - which is that, effectively, we are looking at selling the remainder of the land. In the case of Ballymastone, 60% of that estate will be private development. In St Michael's estate, 70% is proposed for affordable rental and then there is the remainder of that site. The Oscar Traynor Road site has been a long time on the go at this stage, 20% of which is proposed for affordable purchase. What is happening to the remainder? What does the financial model allow for that part of the site?

I ask each of the witnesses about the interaction of their agencies with the Land Development Agency, LDA, which is not set up on a statutory footing as of yet. We are still awaiting the legislation to see how that agency will operate. I know that Mr. Baneham of the Housing Development Agency has mentioned to the LDA specifically the areas of Naas in County Kildare and Skerries in County Dublin, which are effectively additional sites for development. What is the LDA telling the Housing Development Agency what it wants to do with those two sites? Cost rental housing has been mentioned. Is that cost rental housing for delivery based on the Enniskerry Road pilot scheme? Do we wait to see how the pilot scheme works when it gets up and running before we start to deliver the other cost rental schemes? When one considers rents of €1,200, I understand the rent that can be charged is just below market rate, which is not a great deal below market rate in many of these areas when one looks at the daft.ie report for the fourth quarter.

If this cost rental accommodation is delivered at €1,200 a month, while it is welcome that it is less than the market rent, in many areas it will not be significantly less. That is particularly the case in the areas where the accommodation is being built. Perhaps the model needs to be looked at with reference to the term of the loan or subvention.

On the affordable purchase scheme, when do the agencies, particularly the Housing Agency, see the first affordable house actually being delivered? This is a source of great frustration for me. I do not want the delegates to stray into a policy area, but the negotiations to increase the serviced site fund to €310 million over three years took a lot of time to complete. It was not just to allow for a reduction in cost but also to establish the scheme. I know that the four local authorities in Dublin have accepted and approved broad criteria for the scheme, but is Mr. Baneham happy that they are clear enough to allow him to cost it properly?

As I have pointed out before, the income threshold for affordable housing for couples has been set at €75,000. That is a good combined income, but in many instances two people with decent jobs will have a combined income above that threshold. They then find themselves in a situation where in Dublin they pay on average 40% of their net take-home pay in rent, if they are lucky enough to be able to rent. Based on average income, a single person in Dublin pays rent equal to 58.8% of his or her net take-home pay. That is based on the daft.iereport for the last quarter and does not take recent increases into account. Nearly 60% of such a person's take-home pay goes on rent. That is why it is really important that we give people other options in the areas of affordable rent and particularly affordable purchase. The income threshold for an individual is €50,000, which is fair, but the threshold of €75,000 for a couple will knock many out of the affordable purchase scheme. The Department tells me that this matter is under review by the Department of Finance. Will Mr. Baneham advise me on how far he believes it has progressed?

Is there a willingness to move above the threshold of €75,000 or even to allow for regional affordability in the same way as it is allowed for under the housing assistance payment scheme, to which I will turn? Could discretion be allowed at the level of the local authority on the basis of income levels and purchase prices in the relevant area? The affordable housing scheme on which he has worked and which worked previously would allow for an equity stake. Under that scheme it should be possible to sell houses for between €160,000 and €210,000, although they would be mainly sold for €210,000 to €230,000. When does Mr. Baneham foresee the scheme being established across the country, particularly in areas in which there are issues of affordability such as in Dublin, Cork, Galway, and Waterford? These issues are spreading across the country.