Mr. Sean O'Connor:

I thank the committee for the invitation to speak here today. I am joined by colleagues, Ms Orla Cleary, director of corporate services, and Mr. Martin Loughran, company secretary and director of development. Tuath currently manages 10,000 social and cost-rental homes nationwide. We employ 175 people who work from our four offices in Cork, Dublin, Dundalk and Galway. Tuath's aim is to provide long-term, safe, quality housing at best value while locally helping to build vibrant communities. Working collaboratively with every local authority, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Housing Agency, other AHBs and lenders, primarily the HFA and AIB, we added 1,974 new homes this year, which is a record for us. We have responded to the pressing housing situation by providing high-quality and affordable housing to as many people in hard-pressed families as we can. That is the key remit of our board but we also provide high quality management and maintenance service which are valued by tenants day to day.

Tuath sees its primary role as that of a working partnership with public and private stakeholders: to increase the supply of social and cost rental housing; to increase investment in social housing and to treat social housing as no different to other key infrastructure; to improve choice for housing consumers; to provide effective and efficient long term asset management; and to deliver first-class services to tenants and to achieve best value and-or value for money.

It is clear that AHBs have the experience, expertise and appetite to provided additional social housing as well as cost-rental homes which are necessary to bring sky-high rents in the private market.

It is essential to increase choice for housing consumers by developing social, affordable and cost-rental homes, in mixed tenure settings. To date, we have provided 256 cost-rental homes. We have 150 more on-site, and we have invested more than €4 million from our own reserves to keep the rents as low as possible. We believe that housing customers deserve choice by way of a range of new housing products for those who cannot afford to buy a home on the open market or pay a private sector rent. We also believe that delivery of affordable home ownership requires additional focus by State-led agencies, as this area is not readily compatible with the governance structure nor risk appetite of most AHBs, including Tuath. We believe that the current State funding framework for the provision of new social and affordable homes is effective and of low risk to borrowers and lenders. Tuath's track record of delivery under this framework, along with that of my sector colleagues is proof of it working and delivering for people in need.

A significant flaw is that the current system is based on 100% debt funding, which in our view and that of virtually everyone in the sector, is not sustainable in the long term. However, professional, financial and property advice we have received is that high gearing per se in this environment is not problematic, but it could be if it continues unabated without some State equity. We strongly believe that part grant or a new form of government equity has to be introduced into the funding system to ensure its sustainability, and that it remains fit for purpose. Tuath welcomes the Department’s recently completed recommendations for funding the sector, and looks forward to working to implement change emanating from the review. Our view is that investment in social and affordable housing is an investment in infrastructure and an investment for future generations.

We also ask that the merits of ethical pension fund investment be explored, and a framework established to allow pension funding to flow into the sector. We ask for the consideration of a potentially off-balance sheet, ethically funded leasing model to allow pension funds to invest in social and affordable housing. We believe pension funds would invest on the basis of a State backed long-term income stream with the asset transferring at the end of the lease to the AHB, local authority or another new entity, such as a tenant management organisation for nothing or a nominal sum of €1. By doing this, the State could readily utilise massive pension fund capital, while preserving its own capital. Many funds internationally are seeking environmental, social, and governance, ESG, schemes with steady and not stellar returns, in ethical and socially based models. It would ensure that leased homes are retained in perpetuity as lifetime social homes, creating absolute security of tenure and sustainable, settled communities. Financial modelling carried out for Tuath by one of the big four firms showed that it can be cheaper for the State to deliver permanent social housing than other methods of leasing and-or debt funding. We respectfully suggest that this should be properly explored now.

The availability of land supply is crucial for AHBs to develop and construct new social and cost-rental homes. I understand and welcome the fact that a land acquisition fund to acquire private sites is likely to be established early next year. Housing for All caters for all groups, be they families, single people, the homeless, the elderly or disabled. Implementation of choice is critical. Tuath also asks that the State facilitates geographical choice in social housing by way of a national waiting list, or some sort of national transfer list, to allow applicants move from one county to another.

All newly built homes delivered or acquired by Tuath have energy ratings of A2. Increasingly, we are delivering near zero energy building grade homes. Over the coming years, we aim to retrofit our older homes to a minimum B2 energy rating. As an association, we are interested in retrofitting homes and reducing our carbon footprint over the long term. It will help to boost the economy. Tuath has delivered a number of schemes using modern methods of construction and off-site production, which is more environmentally friendly than traditional, highly polluting house building. We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and believe that financial incentives should be provided to manufacturers and developers, including AHBs, to deliver more homes via modular construction methods. They are better for the environment and create more carbon-friendly and energy-efficient buildings, through sourcing green materials. The added benefit of increasing modern methods of construction would be speedier delivery. Incentives like reduced VAT rates, planning levy waivers and an additional funding multiplier for green modular construction projects could also help. In conclusion AHB’s, including Tuath, demonstrated huge resilience during Covid. Despite the current headwinds in the operating environment, Tuath aims to add an additional 5,800 homes by the end of 2026 but only with the continued collaborative support key stakeholders. We aim to keep going and doing more to change housing for the better and to work for people and places, not profit.