Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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I can speak from experience of the social and affordable housing scheme only in County Kildare and I do not know how the mix of affordable housing units is panning out in other parts of the country. There is great interest in the affordable housing scheme. Of all the issues about which people contact me, housing is top of the list.

People who apply for affordable housing have an expectation that houses and apartments will be on offer, but in County Kildare it seems that almost exclusively apartments are offered. I do no know of any applicants who were offered houses recently. However, I acknowledge that affordable units are certainly being offered.

The size of some of these units is unacceptably small. One unit I saw today before I came to the House is a 620 sq. ft., two bed-roomed apartment. One could fit a double bed in one bedroom and sometimes developers squash an en suite into the main bedroom, which results in a reduction in the size of the other rooms in the apartment. In the second bedroom of this apartment one could just about fit a single bed. There is also a combined living and kitchen area. The apartment has very little storage space. That unit might be fine for a short period such as a holiday for a few weeks. However, people are buying these units with a 20-year clawback, with a 100% clawback for the first ten years and a graduated clawback for the following ten years. The provision of such units will create difficulties and it would be best to address them, if that can be done at this stage.

People who purchase an apartment in addition to paying a mortgage also must pay management fees as invariably a management company is set up to manage the property. Such fees amount to almost another month's mortgage repayment in a 12-month period, which often pushes people over the limit in terms of meeting their repayments.

Many people who are offered a unit under the scheme view it as a once off chance; if they sell the property, they will not be eligible for further consideration under the scheme. While an apartment may well meet the immediate needs of young people seeking housing, it is unlikely to meet their medium or long-term needs if they end up in a relationship and have children.

According to the recent home price index survey of the PTS, Kildare has the third highest number of apartments constructed nationally, after Dublin and Cork. A disproportionate number of apartments are being offered for social and affordable housing. I have seen housing estates constructed where the only social and affordable units available are in the apartment element of those developments.

Recently it was announced that Affordable Homes Partnership bought some two and three bedroom apartments and duplexes. We must question the affordability of these housing units when one considers the prices at which they are offered. These apartments are being offered at prices ranging from €263,000 to €287,000. With a 97% mortgage on the higher figure, the monthly repayment is nearly €1,400. In addition the home buyer must pay management fees, and mortgage protection and life insurance premia, as such policies are mandatory on taking out a mortgage. One would require a take home pay of €47,000 to qualify for a mortgage on the larger unit. We must compare like with like; the average price paid for a home by first-time buyers in December 2006 was €279,000. The price offered by the Affordable Homes Partnership for units is more than the average price paid by first-time home owners in December of last year. I question whether it will be left with some of these units, since a clawback provision applies.

We may well be swapping one set of problems for another. The social housing sector in Kildare may be different from other areas, but a disproportionate number of small apartments is on offer. Can the local authority intervene and insist on a better housing mix? We need to anticipate the problems which will arise. Some people who obtained apartments under the Part V provision have transferred from them.

At the very least the clawback provision needs to reviewed in the context of apartments, particularly very small apartments, to ensure that people have the ability to move on. Many people will be discontented; they expect their housing needs will be sorted but in two or three years they may present with a range of different problems.

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I compliment the Deputy on using her time well and straying over a variety of topics, all of which are important and could be separate topics for debate.

While set in an affordable housing context, the issues raised by the Deputy have a broader context concerning the creation of sustainable communities, which I know is as much a passion of the Deputy's as it is of mine — places where people want to live and work now and in the future to grow and develop their full potential. This is at the very heart of the new housing policy statement, Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities, which my colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, and I published last week. A broad programme of actions is being implemented to support the realisation of that sustainable communities vision. In the time available, I will outline a number of the key elements involved.

A central requirement of the sustainable communities agenda is the achievement of a better housing mix, both in terms of social mix and the mix of different types of homes to meet the broad range of housing requirements. Taking the social mix issue first, Part V of the Planning and Development Act introduced a significant mechanism through which up to 20% of housing provided in most residential developments can be set aside for social and affordable housing purposes. I was interested in the Deputy's comment that in Kildare the housing provided seems to be disproportionately apartments. That is not the experience elsewhere and I will certainly follow that up. The implementation of this mechanism is based on the housing strategy adopted by each local authority, which must include measures to address the housing needs of all sectors of the population and encourage mixed and balanced communities in order to counteract undue social segregation.

Delivery of affordable and social housing under Part V of the legislation is now coming on stream at an increasing pace. To the end of September 2006, more than 3,500 homes were provided through this mechanism, with important benefits in terms of social integration.

Achieving a better social mix in apartment developments is also dependent on achieving an appropriate mix of different types of apartments, so that the full range of housing requirements, including those of families, can be met in the medium to long term. The Deputy will be aware that last month I published guidelines on apartment design and standards for public consultation. This is an area highlighted in a number of cases that went before An Bord Pleanála. The consultation period closes on 5 March and it is expected that the guidelines will be finalised in April. I would very much welcome contributions to that debate from the Deputy and other Members. However, pending finalisation of the guidelines, planning authorities are being requested to have regard to the recommended standards for new apartment schemes.

The focus of these draft guidelines is on the apartment building itself and on individual units within it. While there has been a general trend towards larger average apartment sizes over the past decade, these draft guidelines address the mix of unit types and sizes. They provide recommended minimum standards for floor areas in different types of apartments, for storage spaces, for apartment balconies and patios, and for dimensions in certain rooms.

The draft guidelines are relevant to private housing, but they also impact on affordable housing, given the increasing extent to which the Part V mechanism is beginning to deliver. Moreover, these new guidelines will form part of a suite of guidelines being prepared within a wider housing and planning context. These also include new guidelines on sustainable residential development, incorporating a revision of the 1999 residential density guidelines; a new best practice handbook on urban design and housing layouts which will illustrate, with examples drawn from current practice, how the policies set out in the planning guidelines might be implemented; and a revision of the 1999 social housing design guidelines.

I acknowledge the importance of the matter raised by the Deputy. The issues involved are being addressed comprehensively through the policy frameworks and the supporting initiatives developed by the Government. The affordable homes partnership has delivered some extraordinary quality housing. I encourage Members to have a look at the housing we brought on stream very rapidly through the swap of the site on Harcourt Terrace. These are beautiful houses, wonderful houses, happy families in very good quality duplexes and apartments such as the Belfry. They are a tribute to the builders who built them and to the Affordable Homes Partnership. My ambition is to see the quality of social and affordable housing improved. There is no excuse for second-rate accommodation in a rich country. I am determined that the quality will be improved.