Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the publication of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014 and commend the Minister of State and her officials on bringing it before the House. The Bill has three main sections relating to the termination of local authority tenancies, purchases of houses by tenants and housing assistance payments. As a Deputy representing the Galway West-Mayo South constituency, I have been contacted on numerous occasions by constituents expressing concerns about all of these issues and I expect every other Deputy has also been contacted on these matters. The level of correspondence I have received demonstrates how crucial the issue of housing has become. Without a home, every other aspect of life becomes infinitely more difficult.

Unfortunately, we have a national housing problem, the reasons for which are well known and varied. They include the economic collapse; problems with financial institutions; the lack of credit and lending to construction companies; construction companies being overstretched and exposed financially; a substantial decrease in new housing developments; an overstock of houses in the wrong locations; and the lack of resources available for local authorities to build social housing. These factors have all created circumstances that have given rise to a new set of problems that is exacerbating the housing problem. These problems include a shortage of homes and properties in urban locations; substantial increases in rental prices; the inability of people who are renting to save for a deposit to buy a new home; and a substantial reduction in rental properties available to people on the rent supplement scheme as a result of increases in rents. The Bill aims to tackle these challenges head on and I believe it will do so if it is accompanied by other measures.

The sections dealing with local authority tenancies provide for an overhaul of the law to effectively address anti-social behaviour by a small number of tenants; damage caused to local authority properties; social problems caused by abandoned properties; the inability of councils to ensure all social housing stock is in use owing to legal uncertainty; and the failure to pay the modest rental amounts involved resulting in the accrual of arrears. I welcome section 14(2)(a), which relates to the powers of local authorities to deal with abandoned properties. This provision empowers city and county councils to take back properties and put them to good use as family homes without delay. While canvassing for the forthcoming elections, I saw many boarded up properties in certain housing estates. We must ensure that these properties are brought back into use.

A significant number of constituents have contacted me about the need for a tenant purchase scheme. While such a scheme is also necessary in urban areas, it is particularly significant in rural areas where people have been local authority tenants in a locality and wish to remain part of their community. I welcome the provisions relating to a tenant purchase scheme, including the stipulation that the new scheme will apply to existing local authority housing. Many of those seeking the introduction of a new tenant purchase scheme have been residing in their homes for many years. While canvassing, I encountered a case involving a person who lives in a council house that was built some years ago to accommodate the person's parents. However, they chose not to purchase their home under the previous scheme. For this reason, the new scheme is welcome.

The housing assistance payment is a new initiative to address shortcomings in the rent supplement scheme. Rent supplement was only ever intended to be a short-term payment to support a person in the immediate months after losing a job. It is undeniable that the Department of Social Protection, through the rent supplement scheme, accounts for more than 40% of the private rented accommodation scheme. For this reason, when assigning limits on rental supports the Department had to be mindful of the large number of people in employment who are living in private rented accommodation. The limits have acted as a price floor for the rental market.

Unfortunately, the sudden surge in demand for rented accommodation has highlighted problems in the rent supplement scheme. The rental limits have not kept pace with the market, resulting in a surge in demand that has caused serious problems for people in receipt of rent supplement. Increased rents are also posing serious challenges for young working people. In this context, a change in policy has been desperately needed and the housing assistance payment will assist greatly in this regard. The HAP will be a longer-term scheme and, as such, will provide greater certainty to people currently in receipt of rent supplement. It will greatly increase the role of local authorities and empower families to source their own accommodation, safe in the knowledge that the local authority will partner with them in paying the rental costs.

Crucially, a person will no longer lose support towards rental costs on entering employment. Heretofore, one of the greatest concerns people had when taking up a new job was the immediate loss of the rent supplement payment. It is very difficult to start a new job if one faces uncertainty as to whether one will be able to pay for one's home. In short, the housing accommodation payment will tackle the so-called welfare trap and provide support to a person when he or she most needs it. Landlords, particularly in urban areas, know they will be able to secure a higher rent on the private market than that available from a local authority. In Galway city, for example, this means they can obtain a rent of €800 or €850 from private sources if the rent threshold applied by the local authority is €700.

The social housing investment programme announced in the new stimulus package is welcome and significant. The €50 million funding will provide €20 million for 800 additional homes, €10 million for capital projects dedicated to tackling homelessness and €20 million for local authorities to focus on priority projects. These are all welcome initiatives. The State has never provided sufficient funding for social housing and more will be required. We must also be conscious of the power in the Bill allowing local authorities to end tenancy contracts, as this may force some people into homelessness. This concern should be addressed.

The new mortgage deposit insurance scheme on which the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, is working will also have a positive impact. I am aware of the concerns that have been raised about the scheme, particularly the belief that it will create a new housing bubble. This is not the intention and the Minister has explained that the scheme will be for first-time buyers of newly built homes.

The scheme will enable a large number of people who are currently trapped in the situation of paying high rents and unable to save for a deposit to buy their own homes. I am confident the Minister is very much aware of the risks involved and that he, and his officials, will include safeguards and will closely monitor the operation of the scheme. There is a need for new housing, particularly in urban areas. Over the next five years, it is predicted up to 80,000 new houses will be needed in the greater Dublin area. The scheme will also be a shot in the arm for the construction sector. Such a scheme will be greatly welcomed in providing employment and much needed housing stock.

The review of the national spatial strategy is also crucial in ensuring sustainable and balanced regional development. It is not healthy for a country to concentrate one third of its population in a small area on the east coast. Up to 50% of the national population lives in Leinster. The lack of space in Dublin and the housing policies pursued during the Celtic tiger forced many young people who were born and raised in Dublin to look to the midlands and other locations to buy homes. Such an eventuality has had serious ramifications for communities and families as people could not settle near their home villages or towns.

Conversely, I am conscious there are some in politics, in the media and other areas who seem to thrive on the notion of turning the entire west into some sort of national park. This will never be allowed to happen. We need to sustain and further develop communities in the west and other areas outside of the capital. Promoting balanced regional development will lead to better outcomes for all and a better quality of living. Doing so is in the interests of all the people.

I welcome the Bill. There are many important and welcome initiatives included in it. There is a crisis of sorts in housing and this Bill will alleviate the problems in which many find themselves. Landlords will welcome receiving their rent directly from the local authority rather than from the tenant. It is not about protecting landlords but ensuring we get quality housing. I particularly welcome the initiative regarding the housing assistance payment, HAP, and changes to the rent allowance scheme. I commend the Minister and her officials on this Bill.

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