Dáil debates

Wednesday, 24 September 2014

Housing Provision: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]

 

6:55 pm

Photo of Seán KennySeán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

First, I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, on his appointment and I wish him success on dealing with the housing brief. I believe the Government understands the problems people are facing in respect of housing, from those who are living with the threat and reality of homelessness to families who cannot find affordable properties to rent or to purchase. The housing challenge is significant and the Construction 2020 target of tripling annual housing output over the next six years, as well as the Housing Agency's estimate of approximately 35,000 additional residential properties being required over the next five years to meet social housing need, show the scale of the challenge before Members. While it is important to recognise these issues, it is just as important not to panic people with regard to the housing market. The price of property in Dublin fell by more than 50% from the peak of the boom and it remains significantly below those peak rates. As for immediate action, 6,000 households will have their social housing needs met this year. I believe that claims of another property boom are exaggerated. The recent story from Swords of people camping out overnight to place a deposit appears to have been a once-off event. Moreover, I understand that on the day on which sales of that development opened, the houses did not sell out on the first day and it may well have been something that was hyped up by the developer.

The social housing strategy under the stewardship of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, is in preparation and will be finalised and published with budget 2015. While I do not intend to start pre-empting the final strategy, clearly it will need to address supply by coming up with solutions that must include a more ambitious building programme, as well as the facilitation of increased private sector construction. It must also examine funding solutions, including the best mix of State funding, private finance and European Union sources of funding. New social housing stock is being added, old stock that needed refurbishment is being reactivated and it will continue to add to the stock. Through a considerable refurbishment programme, almost 2,000 social housing units have been put back in use in 2014 and a further 1,200 social units will return to use in 2015, with more units to follow thereafter. The social housing strategy will provide the Government with a programme to continue this work. Significant development on new builds has started already and new social housing developments are starting all around the country. In Dublin, for example, 38 new units are being built in Glasnevin. Moreover, new public housing initiatives are being progressed by Dublin City Council with the voluntary sector and with the assistance of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. I refer, for example, to two large schemes of 50 and 130 units, respectively, in which a mix of private rented and socially rented units are being provided side-by-side in my own constituency on the Dublin north fringe. This is the kind of innovation that is needed and with which we must continue.

The Government's commitment to tackling homelessness is laid out in the homeless policy statement published last year, which outlines the Government's aim to end long-term homelessness by the end of 2016. This means a transition from a shelter-led to a more sustainable housing-led approach, which is about accessing permanent housing as the primary response to all forms of homelessness. In the past two years in Dublin, approximately 1,500 people have moved from homeless services to independent living with necessary supports. This shows what can be done. There is much more to be done and I fully recognise this is a challenge. This is why an oversight group was established to review the approach advocated in the homeless policy statement to identify obstacles and to propose solutions to them. These in turn led to the approval by the Government in May 2014 of a major implementation plan containing 80 actions that will contribute to the delivery of 2,700 units of accommodation by the end of 2016. These actions include ensuring that vacant properties are brought into productive use as quickly as possible and prioritising vulnerable groups, including homeless households, for housing, as well as bringing other suitable vacant residential properties in State ownership into use as quickly as possible.

In conclusion, I wish to raise the question of the repossession of buy-to-let properties by banks. People who are renting such units and who are being made homeless as a result of their repossession by banks should be allowed to remain in situwhen the property is being purchased by another investor and I believe legislation to protect tenants in this position should be considered. I support the work of the Government and I will play my part in ensuring that the housing crisis is tackled and resolved.

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