Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following:“the Bill be deemed to be read a Second Time on 31 March 2017, to allow for—

(a) the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme to be reviewed after one year in operation, in line with the commitment in the Programme for a Partnership Government. The review will commence in January 2017 and the intention is to complete it by 31 March 2017; and

(b) the opportunity, in the context of that review, to consider the proposal, as set out in the Housing (Sale of Local Authority Housing) Bill 2016, to include Part V houses for sale under the 2016 Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme.”.

I thank Deputy Cowen for providing this opportunity for Members to discuss the important issue of tenant purchase of local authority housing. I have tabled an amendment to the motion, which recognises the commitment outlined in the programme for Government to review the operation of the new tenant incremental purchase scheme following the first 12 months of its operation, with the review to be completed by 31 March 2017.

The amendment also notes that the review of the scheme will provide an opportunity to fully consider all issues relating to the purchase of Part V houses. This will include, in particular, consideration of the impact the inclusion of Part V houses in the new tenant purchase scheme would have on the policy objectives of Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and the most appropriate management of social housing stock generally, in a time of increasing demand and stock shortages.

I fully acknowledge the importance of tenant purchase schemes in providing an opportunity for social housing tenants to become home owners and also as a means of promoting sustainable communities. The new scheme for existing local authority houses has been well received since its introduction last January and is a very good scheme. Local authorities have reported considerable interest from tenants in all areas, and this will be reflected in the activity data for the scheme during the first six months of implementation which I will be in a position to publish on the Department's website shortly.

The Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015 set out the detailed terms and conditions of the new tenant purchase scheme for existing local authority houses, which is provided under Part 3 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014. The regulations provide for a number of specified classes of houses to be excluded from sale under the scheme. These exclusions were determined by my Department following considerable analysis undertaken during the development of the scheme. Broadly, the exclusions relate to houses which have been provided to fulfil specific policy objectives, stock that is in short supply or houses that have been provided to meet the particular needs of certain groups of households.

The exclusions include houses provided for older people; group housing which has been provided for occupation by Traveller households; and housing for people with a physical or intellectual disability transitioning from institutional care to community-based living in line with the Government policy as set out in the housing strategy for people with disabilities and the HSE document Transforming Lives. In addition, local authorities have discretion under the regulations to implement local exclusions in order to facilitate the proper management of their housing stock.

The Bill refers to Part V housing. The regulations specifically provide for the exclusion of these houses under the scheme, and there is a clear basis for this approach. Part V of the Planning and Development Act aims to deliver social housing as part of new developments and promote integration and sustainable mixed tenure communities across the country. The housing strategy which each authority is required to prepare under that Part must, among other things, encourage mixed and balanced communities in order to counteract undue social segregation.

In considering the Part V agreement in the case of a particular development, a planning authority is required to consider a number of things, including the need to counteract undue segregation in housing between persons of different social backgrounds and the area of the authority. The authority must also consider whether the agreement will contribute effectively and efficiently to the achievement of the objectives of the housing strategy, whether it will constitute the best use of the resources available to it to ensure an adequate supply of housing, any financial implications of the agreement and its functions as a housing authority and whether the agreement is in accordance with the provisions of the development plan.

I consider that the sale of houses to tenants secured under Part V would go against the objectives of Part V, as these houses could be sold on and would no longer be available for people in need of social housing support. This would, over time, erode the original policy goals of Part V and reduce the tenure mix in relevant estates and communities. For this reason, the regulations governing the new tenant incremental purchase scheme provide that houses transferred under an agreement under Part V may not be sold by a housing authority.

Deputies will have had time to review and consider the action plan for housing and homelessness published yesterday. Accelerating delivery of housing for the private, social and rental sectors is a key priority for Government, and the plan therefore sets out practical and readily implementable actions that will increase housing supply to create a functioning and sustainable housing system.

One of the key pillars of the plan is to ensure better utilisation of our existing social housing stock in order to achieve optimum occupancy of the stock, whether social or private housing. The retention of existing Part V units and future Part V delivery is an important component of the plan and consistent with Government policy of delivering sustainable communities and the promotion of tenure diversification.

Ultimately, there is no doubt that we all want to ensure the new tenant purchase scheme is a success for tenants and the communities in which they live. That is why my Department is monitoring the implementation of the scheme very carefully in conjunction with the housing authorities. As outlined in the Government’s amendment to the motion, we will undertake a full review of the new scheme in conjunction with the CCMA and the Housing Agency. That will commence in January 2017, a year after the scheme has been in existence. I intend to have the review completed no later than 31 March 2017 and I will bring forward any changes to the terms and conditions of the scheme which are deemed appropriate based on evidence and data gathered.

As part of the review, I intend to examine, with the housing authorities, alternative options which may be available for existing tenants of Part V houses who wish to purchase a local authority house and to consider issues around the allocation of Part V houses by local authorities consistent with the terms and conditions of the tenant purchase scheme. I look forward to engaging with Deputies in regard to that review.

I have a lot of sympathy for the sentiments expressed by Members opposite in terms of trying to provide the opportunity of home ownership to everybody who wants it. We also need to balance the other pressures that we as a country face. We have a dramatic shortage of social housing in Ireland. We are trying to change the way in which we provide social housing and how communities interact, and have private and social housing next to each other.

The idea that we would, without a lot of thought and examining what the review says to us, simply allow for the sale of Part V houses which, in many ways, goes against the policy we are trying to achieve, that is, to create vibrant communities where social housing becomes a normal part of the mix in private developments and simply reduce the number of Part V houses in public ownership by allowing for the sale of them, would be contradictory. It would go against what I said yesterday about the big idea behind the rebuilding of Ireland plan, which is not only to build a lot of social houses but to ensure that they are in social-housing only housing estates and instead to try to create proper integration.

5 o’clock

We need to weigh one objective up against the other. I am sure some individuals who have been lucky enough to get social houses in private developments want to buy out their homes and I respect that ambition but my job is to work with local authorities to make sure we have enough social houses to be able to meet the demand. If, for example, a family has moved on and one person is living in a house with four bedrooms, is it the right thing to do to sell the house to that person when we need to fill those bedrooms with people who are currently on social housing lists? The State owns those houses. We are renting them at the moment to social housing tenants and if we make a decision to sell such houses, we will have fewer houses in our stock. Until we have a system that will deliver a new social house for every social house that is sold or even two or three new houses for every one that is sold, we must think very carefully about whether we would allow for the sale of Part V units.

Let us look at the history of Part V. When it was introduced initially for all the right reasons, we allowed flexibility in order that developers could buy themselves out of the responsibility on the assumption that the money would be used to build more social housing but in many cases that did not happen. We could potentially slip into that type of flexibility again and reduce the number of social houses in new private developments by allowing their early sale. That is a potential cause for concern from a policy point of view and we want to wait until at least the end of the review period in order to make an informed decision on whether we should change the rules for Part V. That is the reason I propose the amendment to the motion.

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