Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Ceann Comhairle and all the staff of the Houses a very happy Christmas. I hope they get time to enjoy it with family and friends. I wish Deputy Ó Broin, his colleagues and all colleagues a happy Christmas. This is probably the last housing debate this side of the new Government. We wait to see what Saturday holds. I wish colleagues a very happy and peaceful Christmas and hope people get to spend some time with their friends and families and have a little down time. We are all acutely aware of the challenges in the housing sphere. At the forefront of my mind over the Christmas season are those who do not have a secure home and live in emergency accommodation. They are the number one priority of this Government.

In regard to the matter of the review of income eligibility for social housing supports, I welcome the opportunity to outline among other things the recent changes to the social housing eligibility thresholds and set out my proposals to deliver an enhanced social housing income model in the first half of next year. I recently approved changes to income eligibility for social housing which will see thresholds increase by €5,000 across all local authorities from 1 January 2023. They will broaden the base of households eligible for social housing supports and ensure those in most acute need are prioritised. The changes will soften the impact for an estimated additional 16,000 households, of the increases in the cost of accommodation and the cost of living in recent months, as well as ensuring that social housing supports, including the housing assistance payment, will be available to those who need them most. While the changes will come into effect from the new year, I am pleased to say they will be retrospectively applied to some extent. I am keen to ensure that the changes will be implemented in a fair and equitable manner and that unintended consequences are mitigated as much as possible.

Accordingly any application assessed and deemed ineligible between 18 November 2021 and 1 January 2023 and which would have met the new income thresholds can be resubmitted. Moreover, any household removed from the local authority waiting list since 18 November 2021, but which would now qualify under the new thresholds, will be able to retain the time already accrued on the list as well as any time they would have accrued if they had remained on the list. Impacted households will have until 30 June 2023 to resubmit their social housing applications and avail of these transitional arrangements. That is in response to the number of cases I, and other Deputies across the House, have dealt with. We need to make sure that those who were marginally above the previous limits and were removed from the list after spending substantial time on it can now be reinstituted at the original place and also get credit for the period of time they were removed.

I am conscious that not all households will be aware of the changes or the implications for them. Accordingly I have instructed local authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure all affected households are given the greatest opportunity to reapply. This includes, at a minimum, writing formally to the respective applicants to advise them of the changes and possible impact for them.

The current social housing income model, the respective income thresholds, and the local authorities assigned to each income band were introduced in 2011. Prior to this many local authorities did not apply income eligibility limits. To the extent limits were in place, they tended to vary from one local authority to another. There were also very significant variations in how income limits were defined. The result was an inconsistent approach across all local authorities with applicants for social housing support on similar incomes being treated very differently, depending on where they happened to live in the country. Accordingly the current model was introduced in 2011.

The model is standardised and more consistent with a more equitable approach to assessing eligibility than previous approaches. Importantly, the current model reserves housing support for households that cannot support themselves and have a continuing long-term need, while at the same time ensuring constrained public resources are provided to those who need them most. Eligibility is assessed against objective criteria, including level of income.

Local authorities are grouped in three bands for this purpose. The bands and thresholds were developed with reference to the income needed to meet a household's basic needs, plus a comparative analysis of the local rental cost of housing accommodation across the country at that time. The thresholds also included an uplift of €5,000 to broaden the base from which social housing tenants are drawn to promote sustainable communities and provide a degree of future-proofing. Ultimately, those who qualify for support, for all social housing supports, including in more recent years the housing assistance payment, are then placed on the housing list to be allocated a suitable tenancy in accordance with the relevant local authority's allocation scheme.

Notwithstanding an increase in the thresholds for a small number of local authorities earlier in October this year, they have remained largely unchanged since 2011.

In the meantime, accommodation costs have increased significantly nationwide while annual real household disposal income has increased at a slower rate. For this reason, I approved the recent increases to the baseline income thresholds by €5,000 for all local authorities. While I have no doubt this was the right thing to do in the short term and that approximately 16,000 households will benefit from much-needed State support, the changes will be implemented pending the development and roll-out of an alternative or revised income eligibility model in 2023.

Given the time elapsed since the current model was introduced, and the limited changes to the thresholds over that time, it is appropriate that we carry out a comprehensive root and branch review of the current model and determine if the original underpinning objectives are being met. It is opportune to assess whether the current broad system of bands and thresholds is appropriate and, if so, whether the thresholds adequately relate to the cost of securing suitable private rental accommodation across local authority areas, given the income constraints of low-income households. To this end, my Department recently commissioned expertise to review the current model and develop proposals for an enhanced approach that continuously accounts for existing needs. The review will involve analysing the effectiveness of the current model in meeting and identifying long-term need, developing options for an alternative or revised model, and recommending the optimal approach vis-à-vis strengthening or replacing the existing model.

The new model will be based on some key principles or objectives. There will always be households that will have difficulty meeting their housing needs. Accordingly, the model will seek to support disadvantaged and other vulnerable households unable to source adequate accommodation from their own resources, providing such support in the context of constrained supply. Supporting wider housing and social policy objectives of addressing poverty and social inclusion, like the current model, it will seek to target assistance towards households with the greatest needs. It will also try to avoid creating strong inequities between recipient and non-recipient households, for example, avoiding the cliff-edge thresholds that can arise in such models. At the same time, it will need to be sustainable into the future. To this end, the model and relevant thresholds need to be capable of being adjusted regularly to reflect changes to housing costs and incomes, that is, adjusted downward as well as upward, potentially, according to prevailing circumstances.

In bringing forward this work, we also need to be cognisant of the impact on the wider housing and welfare system. It will be important to consider the impact on the demand for social housing, the risk of creating “false eligibility gateways” and the danger of exacerbating demand-side pressures in the housing market generally. That said, while care will be taken not to increase thresholds to a point where supports are de-targeted from the lowest incomes, an appropriate balance will be struck between adequate eligibility thresholds, on the one hand, and ensuring supports are provided to households with greatest need, on the other.

I am pleased to say work has already commenced in this regard. It is being managed by the Housing Agency on my behalf and I expect proposals for a new model to be submitted for my consideration in quarter 1 of next year. While a complex piece of work, when completed it will significantly strengthen the social housing assessment process and place it on a more equitable and sustainable footing. The work is of the utmost importance to me and the Government and is essential in its own right, given the benefit it can yield for so many struggling to make ends meet. However, it is still only one element in a much larger jigsaw under Housing for All. Without substantially increasing supply of housing, public and private, the impact of any changes will be limited, and the year-on-year progress in reducing housing waiting lists could very easily be reversed.

In this regard, increasing housing supply continues to be my No. 1 priority. Boosting housing supply is key to resolving the housing crisis. It will help us better meet demand while also moderating rental costs and house price inflation. It is very easy to ignore the reality that housing supply in Ireland, like much of the EU, has been impacted by Covid-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, with rising inflation, labour and supply chain disruptions, and reduced construction activity.

The progress we are making is not often acknowledged by the Opposition but we will move on from that. Last year, we delivered just shy of 21,000 homes and not only will we meet this year's target of 24,600, but we will likely significantly surpass it. By the end of September this year, we had already exceeded last year's output and we are optimistic that we may in fact hit, if not exceed, 28,000 new build completions this year. Moreover, while we have seen the number of planning permissions and commencements decline in recent months against a backdrop of market uncertainty, rising interest rates and viability challenges, the prospects for 2023 are equally positive. The significant uplift in supply in recent years should continue and we expect to come very close to the target of 29,000 set out in Housing for All for 2023.

The recent slowdown in construction activity may yet impact delivery in 2024. However, here again, the Government has responded quickly and with certainty to tackle emerging viability challenges and ensure planning permissions translate into commencements and, in turn, completions. Key measures, among others, include the introduction of the first home scheme in July this year, and we are already seeing people able to buy their home at an affordable rate, with over 700 approvals since July and growing. The significant investment of €450 million for Croí Conaithe will help to further activate supply. There have been strong expressions of interest in Project Tosaigh, through the Land Development Agency, to activate stalled planning permissions and bring forward affordable and social housing in those developments that would not otherwise have been built. I expect to be able to provide an update on that to the House early in quarter 1, hopefully in January.

I have recited it often but it is worth repeating that the Government is providing record funding to address and increase the supply of social, affordable and private housing - more than €4 billion annually. We have a costed and comprehensive plan that is taking hold and gaining momentum. It will deliver the scale of social, affordable and private homes required to resolve this housing crisis, providing 90,000 social homes and at least 54,000 affordable purchase and cost rental homes over its lifetime. Next year alone, local authorities and approved housing bodies, which play a crucial role in delivering social housing, particularly in our two main cities of Dublin and Cork, will deliver almost 12,000 social homes through build, acquisition and leasing, and the vast majority of these will be new builds, which is the focus I have had in this plan.

Some Deputies opposite, in particular Deputy Boyd Barrett, must realise that approved housing bodies build homes too. In addition, 9,000 new tenancies-----

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