Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will try to respond to some of the points raised. I agree with Deputy Berry about the Curragh camp. I have written to the Minister for Defence on this. As a demonstration project, it could deliver sustainable housing for the Curragh, and the plans are important. Deputy Chris Andrews and I have spoken before about the redevelopment of the Dublin city flats, which are important from the point of view of housing and heritage, and should be repurposed. Deputy Kenny raised Housing for All and a number of members raised the retrofit programme. It is the most ambitious retrofit programme in the history of the State and Housing for All is the most ambitious housing programme. Specifically on the question raised by Deputy Sherlock about the fair deal scheme, the Minister for Health will introduce legislation to reform and to remove the disincentives to renting those properties in the second quarter of this year.

Deputy O'Callaghan raised some interesting points about town centres, the Heritage Council and the collaborative town centre health check, which I think is a vital component of gathering data to see what we need, where empty properties are, and how they could be repurposed. He mentioned Tipperary town and Tralee, both of which have gone through collaborative town centre health check programmes. Climate resilience and walkable, cycleable town centres are what we are trying to receive. This is not just housing policy in isolation or policy about vacancies in isolation, but is about creating liveable urban centres. The issue of the Irish Green Building Council and the use of GGBS cement will be included in a green procurement policy and brought forward by Government. A number of Members have referred to the housing crisis and to Ukraine. The Government is committed to addressing it all. It is challenging and we have hit the ground running in trying to address them.

A number of Members have raised the issue of living above shops. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has brought in measures related to that. Many of these premises will not go back into retail use and should be considered for bringing into full occupancy. We should consider that for our town centres. There were references to construction workers, builders and tradespeople, which need to be addressed. Regarding rural housing, clustered housing and constructed wetlands should be considered to deal with water and wastewater infrastructure.

I thank Members for their contributions. As the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, stated at the outset, to give the issue the attention it deserves would take more time than is available to us this evening, so actions will have to speak louder than words. I welcome the opportunity this has given Deputies to discuss a sustainable housing market and the significant contribution that recovering vacant and derelict properties makes to underpinning a sustainable housing market. The high cost and affordability of housing, and the challenges it presents for people and families including the wider economy is fully acknowledged by Government. That is why we developed and published Housing for All, the Government's housing plan for Ireland, which is a radical one that sets out four pathways to a sustainable housing system. I remain convinced that Housing for All provides the firm pathways for transforming Ireland’s housing delivery.

This Government believes that everybody should have access to good quality housing to purchase or rent at an affordable price, built to a high standard, and located close to essential services, offering a high quality of life. The programme for Government, Our Shared Future, has been given impetus by the clear plan of action under Housing for All. Supply pipeline indicators, including commencements, are strong and give confidence that the overall targets for delivery of homes will be met and likely exceeded. There were 20,433 new home completions in 2021, despite the Covid restrictions imposed on the sector in the early part of the year. Commencement notices for almost 4,200 new homes have been received in the first two months of 2022. In the 12 months to February 2022, commencement notices for 33,006 new homes were received. This is the highest rolling 12-month total since comparable data was first published.

The number of homes granted planning permission in 2021 was 42,991, representing a fourfold increase on 2011 and indicating a strong housing supply pipeline. There are also positive developments on the capacity of the sector to deliver the targets set out in Housing for All. Employment in the sector is very close to pre-pandemic levels, construction apprenticeship registrations are increasing, and the future building initiative to address construction sector capacity issues by matching vacancies to jobseekers, as well as an international recruitment campaign, in conjunction with industry, is under way.

The Government is mindful that it is clear that there are challenges ahead, with the war in Ukraine leading to a number of risks. It has led to significant inflationary pressures, supply chain disruption and instability, all of which pose challenges in delivering the plan. In addition, our commitment to welcome those fleeing Ukraine leads to an immediate need for accommodation and a longer-term requirement for additional housing. Against this backdrop, the delivery of Housing for All at scale and pace is now more important than ever.

As already discussed, many areas of cities and towns and villages of all sizes face the blight of vacant properties, which, if brought back into use, could add real vibrancy to towns of all sizes around the country, and new accommodation in both urban and rural areas. There is a real opportunity to increase residential development in cities and town centres, with a consequent emphasis on amenities and quality of life. We are ensuring the houses we already have are being fully used at a time of such high housing need.

The Government does not want to see habitable properties lying idle while people are homeless or living in unsuitable accommodation. There has been good progress on a number of fronts in advancing actions in this pathway, particularly with the launch of the town centre first, TCF, policy in February, which provides a co-ordinated whole-of-government policy framework to proactively address the decline in the health of towns across Ireland and to support measures to regenerate and revitalise them. Under the TCF approach, there will be a preparation of town centre plans to identify challenges, actions and integrated responses across a number of themes, including business, commercial, community, cultural, housing, built environment and heritage. The plans will be action- and project-oriented in nature and will assist towns in accessing a range of future funding programmes available for urban regeneration across a number of Departments and Government agencies.

Town regeneration officers will lead dedicated town centre first implementation at local level, including support local town teams in the preparation of the TCF plan, assisted by the wider local authority. The Department of Rural and Community Development has provided funding of €2 million for this purpose. In addition, a national town centre first office will be established shortly within the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, to drive TCF actions and co-ordinate stakeholder engagement at national level and across the local government sector. This will include the collaborative town centre health checks that I have referenced, which will be critically important in gathering that data and building capacity within the town teams. A national oversight and advisory group, which is composed of representation from local government and Government Departments, agencies and wider expert representation will also link with town teams to provide feedback loop on the progression of the overall programme. A number of pathfinder towns will be identified nationally to act as priority demonstrators of the TCF approach. They will be assisted by the TCF national office.

The Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, highlighted the broad suite of measures in Housing for All aimed at addressing vacancy in a co-ordinated, robust manner. It is also important to draw attention to other crucial initiatives in tackling vacancy under Housing For All, namely, the repair-and-leasing scheme and the buy-and-renew scheme, which work in tandem. In addition to providing social housing, the schemes involve additional benefits in terms of regeneration, employment and investment in local areas.

The repair and leasing scheme assists private property owners, local authorities and approved housing bodies in utilising existing vacant housing stock throughout the country for social housing. The scheme provides upfront funding for any works necessary to bring the property up to a required standard. In return, the property owner agrees to leasing the dwelling to the local authority to be used for social housing for a period of five to 25 years. The cost of the repairs is to be repaid by the property owner by offsetting it against rent. Funding under the repair and leasing scheme is targeted at owners of vacant properties who cannot afford or access funding that is needed to bring the properties up to a required standard for rental property. The maximum cost of repairs allowable under the scheme is €60,000, which was increased from €40,000 in November 2020. A total of 279 units have been brought into use under the repair and leasing scheme from 2017 to 2021. The 2022 allocation is €12 million for the repair and leasing scheme.

In a situation where leasing is not an option that the homeowner is willing to pursue, the buy-and-renew scheme supports local authorities to purchase, acquire, remediate or renew vacant properties that are in need of repair and to make them available for social housing use. Consequently, the scheme is particularly focused on older vacant homes to help tackle the problem of dereliction and to improve the appearance of the built environment in the community. Some 735 homes have been delivered through this scheme for social housing purposes since its introduction in 2016.

I again thank all the Deputies for their contributions. This has been a worthwhile debate. I reiterate the Government’s commitment to tackling the issue of vacancy through Housing for All and the other measures I have outlined.

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