Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like many others, I acknowledge the motion put down by the Civil Engagement Group. I also welcome our guests into the Chamber this evening. I am glad we will not be opposing this motion because housing is something for which we all have a huge responsibility. I am listening to what everybody is saying.

Housing is one of the core issues this Government was formed to tackle. We understand the scale of the problem people are facing with regard to rent and house prices. While the substantive issue we face will not be resolved overnight, slow progress is being made, and it is slow progress.

Housing for All gives certainty and stability for those who want to finance and build homes. To deliver houses at the substantial scale we need across the country, capital from all sources, including private investment, will be required. Increasing supply will also help to moderate house price increases. I think we all accept that. It is the only place we are going to bring down prices and get more supply.

The Government's Housing for All document outlines a large number of actions along with the €20 billion State investment in housing to the end of 2026. That is committed money. The strong pipeline of homebuilding activity is encouraging. New figures from the past 12 months show commencement notices in respect of 31,000 new homes were received. This is the highest rolling 12-month total since comparable data was first published. While I know that is still going to be a very small contribution, we must acknowledge it is a movement in the right way. I keep going back to the fact that we must have more supply to ensure rent prices, in particular, come down. We recognise there is an ongoing challenge to the delivery of housing and it will take time before the full benefits of Housing for All are tangible to all our citizens. We are confident that this plan can and will deliver, however.

The cost of rent all over the country is a massive issue. The quarter 3 2021 rent index showed that year-on-year, new rents increased nationally by 8.3%. This growth was higher than the previous quarter's 7% and the highest since quarter 4 of 2017, which recorded growth of 8.4%. The standardised average national rent for houses was €1,395 per month; a rise of 3.7% on the previous quarter and 11% year-on-year. The standardised average rent for apartments was €1,419 for quarter 3 of 2021. That was an increase of 2.9% on the previous quarter but a rise of 6.6% year-on-year. No matter where one goes in the country, and I know it is a bigger issue in the bigger urban areas, one finds that rent costs have gone through the roof. Even in my own county, people who were never in trouble with rent have come to me now in desperate trouble, and that is in a rural area.

In my view, the most effective way to assist renters in the medium- to long-term is to increase supply, as I said earlier, and accelerate the delivery of housing for the private and social rental sector. Housing for All: A New Housing Plan for Ireland sets out the Government's plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. That must be achieved. I acknowledge that if we do not do that, we will have failed as Oireachtas people. We will really have failed if we do not deliver that. I really hope that will be achievable.

Cost rental is a long-term rental model in which tenants only pay the cost of providing, managing and maintaining their homes. It is fair to say there is a commitment through approved housing bodies, local authorities and the LDA under Project Tosaigh to have more houses available. Some 1,500 cost-rental homes are targeted for completion and tenanting this year alone. Overall, some 18,000 cost-rental homes are targeted for completion under Housing for All to 2030.

The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2021 introduced measures in July 2021 to extend the operation of the RPZs until the end of 2024. The Act also provides that rent reviews outside RPZs can until 2025 occur no more frequently than biannually. This will provide rent certainty for tenants outside the RPZs for a minimum two-year period. The Act also introduced measures to better protect tenants with affordability challenges by prohibiting any necessary rent increase in the RPZ from exceeding general inflation recorded by the harmonised index of consumer prices, HICP. To address the rent affordability challenges that are building on foot of the unexpectedly fast rising inflation rate as recorded by the HICP, since 11 December 2021 the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2021 provides for a cap of 2% per annum pro rataon rent increases in RPZs where the inflation rate is higher. In effect, this will mean that rents in the RPZ may only increase by a maximum of 2% per annum pro rataduring times of higher inflation.

We all know there is a huge issue in that regard. We all know there is a huge issue of homelessness, of which I am not proud in any way, shape or form. It is dreadful to see the numbers of people who are still homeless. I honestly believe we are on the right track, however. The improvement in what we actually get delivered is where it all happens. I am hopeful that can happen sooner rather than in the longer term. We need that to happen. I thank Senators very much again for tabling the motion.