Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to speak to the housing element of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government budget because of its importance. Last year, during the debate on budget 2018, I said that we were removing some of the remaining barriers to building more homes more rapidly and at more affordable prices. With 20,000 new places to live to be delivered this year, the reforms we made are working but we have more to do.

Next year will about driving even greater delivery now that the machinery is in place and delivering. This will be possible not only because the money is available but because we have the tools and systems in place to spend that money and because as a Government we continue to prioritise housing. Two years have been already spent rebuilding each part of our housing supply chain, including by introducing emergency measures such as fast-track planning, new guidelines on apartment building, new standards for council homes, the streamlining of approval processes, reforming procurement, investing in expertise, restaffing in critical areas in my Department, An Bord Pleanála and the local authorities, identifying and preparing land and investing in critical infrastructure.

Looking to what we can expect in 2019, there will be €2.4 billion in spending next year as part of the housing budget, over €500 million of which is new money and €370 million is money not previously programmed under Rebuilding Ireland. We expect the housing system to build approximately 25,000 new places to live in 2019. This will be measured independently by the CSO, but in terms of what is coming through the system this year, we are on track to achieve this target. This means we are one year ahead of the targets for housing supply generally as provided for in the five year programme under Rebuilding Ireland. Resources dedicated to homelessness will increase to €146 million next and an additional €60 million in capital funding is being provided this year, primarily for emergency accommodation, including family hubs. Money for homeless services kept people safe through dangerous weather, moved 200 homeless individuals into Housing First homes, reduced rough sleeping by 40% and created hubs for 500 families and it will do a lot more in the year to come. We will move 5,000 adults and their children out of homeless and we will continue to prioritise those most vulnerable in this crisis - people sleeping rough and families in hotels. Crucially, money is not an obstacle to moving families out of hotels. An additional €3 million in wrap-around supports is provided for Housing First. In addition to the funding that will support the delivery of single occupancy homes, 200 new emergency beds will be provided and the family hub programme will expand to accommodate 950 more places, bringing the total number of places to approximately 1,500 places, allowing us to accommodate families in hubs rather than hotels, which are not an appropriate first response.

The keys to 10,000 homes will go to families on council housing lists, some of whom are in emergency accommodation today. These will be 10,000 new social units delivered by local authorities and housing bodies. Some of these homes will be delivered through the acquisition of homes held by banks that are currently vacant. Under Rebuilding Ireland, we are using a number of delivery channels to help people who need our help and to help them as quickly as possible. Another 16,760 families and individuals will be supported by the State in the private sector using the housing assistance payment, HAP, and 45,000 HAP tenancies will have been established by the end of this year.

This is an essential part of the solution because these families need somewhere to live now while homes are being built. This was understood by the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government when it recommended the delivery of 50,000 new council homes under Rebuilding Ireland, which we are also delivering. That said, in 2020 and 2021, we will house more citizens in council homes than through the private rental sector.

In 2011, when house prices were still falling and the country was plagued by 3,000 ghost estates, the affordable housing scheme was stood down. People did not need State subsidies to buy a home; it was quite the opposite. This year, I have recommenced the relevant provision of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and initiated a brand new scheme where local authorities can bring forward their own land for subsidised housing, to be built and bought in a co-operative way between the State and the house buyer. This will make housing more affordable by achieving discounts for the individual buyer of as much as 40%. That equates to a home worth €350,000 being available today for €210,000 or an apartment worth €300,000 being available to buy for €180,000.

Under the serviced sites fund, the local authority will take an equity stake, with the buyer to be repaid over time when the house is sold. The applicants will be selected openly and transparently by the local authority providing the homes. Importantly, repayments by purchasers will be ring-fenced in a special housing fund to help other families. Earlier this year, I added €15 million to the €25 million fund, which, with the local authority contribution, brought it to €100 million. This fund will now increase to €310 million, helping to make homes more affordable for young people and families and this is the largest affordability package in more than a decade. This money will operate in conjunction with the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, money that is also delivering more affordable housing, the Land Development Agency and its ambitious targets in this area and the new cost rental projects that are being progressed with the help of the European Investment Bank.

The Rebuilding Ireland affordable home loan was launched eight months ago on 1 February 2018. There has been great interest in this scheme to date. At the end of December, the Housing Agency had assessed and recommended 1,134 loans for approval, totalling some €236 million. An assessment is currently under way that will consider issues relating to the consistency in approval of applications and timelines as well as extending the affordable loan to vacant homes requiring refurbishment. People are paying too much to rent a home right now and, therefore, we have introduced rent caps, but these need to be strengthened quickly. Legislation later this month will provide that any breach of rent caps can be sanctioned and will also strengthen the powers of the RTB. Crucially, in this budget, an additional €4.5 million will be provided next year to support stronger RTB capacity and local authority inspections in the rental sector. This is a 67% increase in Exchequer funding for this purpose. The legislation will also further tighten up the operation of any exemptions under the rent pressure zone, RPZ, laws, enhance rental data through rent transparency, double the notice period for renters when a notice to quit is served after six months and seek to extend rent caps to student accommodation. The first rent pressure zones, RPZs, are due to expire at the end of next year and, therefore, I am considering an extension of this measure, given the continuing conditions in the rental sector. As I review this, I will also examine other provisions relating to the operation of the rent caps in line with the recent recommendations from the RTB.

Fundamentally, the problems being experienced by renters come back to the key problem in our housing sector today, namely the lack of supply. We are overly dependent on small, and sometimes accidental, landlords for rental accommodation. Between 70% and 80% of landlords own only one or two homes. We have to introduce measures that will help landlords to remain as landlords and for this reason, the Minister for Finance announced the full removal of the restriction on the amount of interest that may be deducted by landlords in respect of loans used to purchase, improve or repair their residential property.

We will, of course, continue to fund other important housing supports and services. Supports that will be funded through the increased resources in budget 2019 include funding of €13 million to support a range of Traveller specific accommodation schemes; €32 million to fund the remediation of a further 460 homes affected by pyrite; 9,000 council homes that will be improved through the energy efficiency programme with funding of €25 million; and a fund of €23 million to support the continuation of the mortgage-to-rent scheme and will allow for more than 400 additional households to be supported under the scheme. Exchequer funding for housing adaptation grants will be increased to €57 million and this will enable up to 11,800 home adaptations to be undertaken, facilitating people with disabilities and older people to continue to live in their homes. We will shortly publish a housing strategy specifically focused on older people.

On supports for older homeowners who may wish to reconfigure their family sized home to create a ground floor independent living area for themselves and a rental property upstairs, I have provided funding to the Abhaile Project, which will proof a pilot in Clondalkin. When this pilot project is completed, it will provide a powerful demonstration of what can be achieved in this area.

The national regeneration programme will be supported through funding of almost €72 million. Funding of €10 million will support the operational costs of the Housing Agency during next year and support the agency in its expanded role in the delivery of housing services and supports. As I indicated earlier, an additional funding of €4.5 million will go to the RTB, which will increase its funding to €11.5 million in the course of next year.

On defective concrete blocks, an issue which has affected homeowners in Donegal and Mayo, I am pleased that the Government approved in principle yesterday the development of a grant scheme of financial assistance to support effected homeowners to carry out the necessary remediation works to dwellings that have been damaged in those counties. This scheme will be finalised later this year at which point funding will also be allocated, and it will be delivered in stages over the course of 2019 and beyond.

In other areas relating to my Department, funding will increase for water services, local government and planning programmes as well as Met Éireann next year. This will amount to in excess of €250 million. The funding for Irish Water will be approximately €1.2 billion. Funding for local government will increase by €60 million to €185 million and there will also be an increase of €2 million in capital investment in fire and emergency services, bringing the total to over €11 million in 2019.

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