Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for tabling this Topical Issue. Social housing support is provided to those who are most in need. The current income eligibility requirements generally achieve this, providing for a fair and equitable system of identifying those households facing the greatest challenge in meeting their accommodation needs from their own resources and ensuring constrained resources are available to those who need them most.

Housing for All was published in September 2021 and committed to reviewing income eligibility for social housing. Following a review conducted by the Department in 2022, the Government agreed to the recommendation of the Minister for housing to increase the baseline social housing income thresholds by €5,000 for all local authorities with effect from 1 January 2023. The thresholds increased to €40,000, €35,000 and €30,000 for bands 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Notwithstanding these changes, the Department is awaiting detailed research examining the existing income limits in the context of current market and population conditions and the suitability or otherwise of the current framework having regard to the significant changes to the landscape since it was introduced. This has been commissioned by the Housing Agency and I understand this work is near completion. When it is available, the Department of housing will undertake a further review, including consultation with stakeholders. This review will examine, among other things, how the social housing income limits system interacts with other housing supports, including cost rental. This will facilitate the preparation of options for a revised new social housing income eligibility model for the consideration of the Minister and the Government in the fourth quarter of 2024, as set out in the Housing for All action plan update.

Cost rental is a form of rental tenure designed to assist a cohort of renters who face significant affordability challenges meeting high rents in the private sector and who are not eligible for social housing support. The core principle of cost rental is that the rents cover the development, management and maintenance costs of the homes so that the long-term future of those homes is financially secure but that rents are not subject to the pressures of the open market. Rents will increase only in line with consumer inflation, thereby remaining stable in real terms while continuing to cover ongoing costs. Cost-rental homes also come with the added advantage of long-term, secure tenancies regulated by the Affordable Housing Act 2021. The primary eligibility condition for accessing cost-rental housing is a maximum net annual household income, that is, income less income tax, PRSI, USC, and superannuation contributions. This was originally set at €53,000 net per household for the whole country in December 2021. It was recognised that the economic context had changed in the succeeding years and so, in August 2023, the maximum net household income limits were increased to €66,000 in Dublin and €59,000 for the rest of the country.

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