Ms Anne Colgan:

Without a doubt, expanding the range of schemes and opportunities that are available for housing will be most welcome. It has been a difficulty, particularly as house prices became unaffordable, that the only option has been social housing or market price housing. To bridge that gap with cost-rental and affordable housing models is an extremely important development, particularly for urban areas, and we welcome it.

The devil will be in the detail. “Affordable” will have to mean genuinely affordable, as will “cost-rental”. Provided that the schemes are designed, developed and rolled out in a manner that allows them to be genuinely taken up by those who need them, they will add invaluably to the range of possibilities open to councils and the LDA.

The criteria will be important. As elected council members, we would welcome the opportunity for engagement with the Department on these schemes. There has not been a track record of elected members getting to engage on housing policy issues directly with the Department. It would be good, as we have something constructive to offer as a stakeholder at the table when policies are being prepared.