Seanad debates

Tuesday, 16 April 2019

Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters

Social and Affordable Housing Provision

2:30 pm

Photo of Victor BoyhanVictor Boyhan (Independent)
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Will the Minister of State with responsibility for local government confirm the details that have been set by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government in consultation with the chief executives of all 41 local authorities in respect of the delivery of affordable housing? We know, and it has been a major plank of the Rebuilding Ireland policy, that the Government would envisage the roll-out of a national affordable housing scheme and it is disappointing to say that, despite being three years on from that, we do not have a national affordable housing scheme in place. There are several reasons for that but they are not all the Minister of State's fault. We need to keep the focus on and deliver affordable housing, more purchase, and affordable homes for renting, particularly in the cities and the Dublin area. People know there are great difficulties in just renting a home at an affordable and sustainable price. There is a national problem that needs to be addressed.

It came to my attention recently that there was a draft affordable scheme of priorities proposed and brought by the management in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.I understand it was rejected across the political lines, including by councillors from the Minister of State's own party and those from other parties and none, because they had what they described as major difficulties with the flexibility of the scheme. I am talking about the draft affordable scheme of priorities for affordable housing. The argument, apparently, is that there is not sufficient flexibility locally in terms of the charges and other issues around all of that. I think we have a difficulty and I ask the Department to look specifically at this local authority. It is the one I know best, the one I live in and the council on which I served. This is only a very recent development and I know the Minister is aware of it. We need to look at the pitfalls and concerns expressed by elected members of this council. I understand it was unanimous across the board. They raised concerns. I do not know the legitimacy of those concerns or the detailed reasoning behind them. I understand that the director of housing on this council sent the draft report with comments back to the Minister, and that the Minister will have to come back to the council at some point.

I am mindful that in most local authorities there will only be one more council meeting before the local elections. Some councillors will not be re-elected and some will; there will be substantial changes across the 31 local authorities, no doubt. The key, substantive issue is that of affordability. What specific targets has the Government set? We have to talk about targets and keep monitoring them, otherwise we are not going to see the delivery of affordable homes to purchase and rent. Perhaps the Minister of State will enlighten me further. I ask him to relay to the Minister that we might look at Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown specifically because it is the only one I know that has been sent back to the Minister at this point. Perhaps there are lessons to be learned from it and perhaps there are not but we should look at it. If everybody is rejecting a scheme of priorities and holding up an affordable scheme in a local authority, it has to be an issue of concern both to the Government and to the local authority in question.

Photo of John Paul PhelanJohn Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy. Having read through the response that is provided by the Department, I am not sure it will deal with some of the issues that Senator Boyhan has raised.

One of the Government’s key priorities is to address issues of housing affordability. To this end, a multi-stranded approach is being taken to support those low to middle-income households in achieving home ownership. In terms of affordable purchase, last year, my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, commenced the relevant provisions of Part 5 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009. This provided a statutory basis for the delivery of the affordable housing purchase scheme. The Minister also made regulations last month, on foot of which local authorities are now moving ahead to develop their schemes of priority, which they will use to manage the allocation of affordable housing that becomes available in their local areas.

The €310 million serviced site fund, SSF, was announced in the last budget, with the core objective of achieving significant delivery of affordable housing. Under the serviced site fund, at least 6,200 affordable homes will be facilitated over the next three years. As part of the first tranche of this funding, in December 2018, ten projects were approved for €43 million of funding under the serviced site fund’s first call for proposals. This will result in the delivery of over 1,400 homes in urban centres with clear affordability challenges in locations across Cork and Dublin. Details of these schemes and their locations are available on the Rebuilding Ireland website and it is expected that the first tranche of affordable homes will come on-stream next year. A second call for further applications under this fund was issued last week. As a result of this, 19 local authorities which carried out economic assessments to identify affordability issues in their areas will be in a position to make applications for funding support for a further bundle of projects to deliver affordable homes to purchase or rent. Furthermore, some 2,350 affordable homes are in the process of being delivered on mainly publicly-owned lands supported through the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF. An additional 5,600 homes will benefit from a LIHAF-related cost reduction, some of which are already coming to market. Again, details of these schemes and their locations are available on the Rebuilding Ireland website. Aside from affordable housing purchase options, the Government has also committed to supporting a new cost rental model. Under the heading of cost rental, the provider supplies accommodation and charges rents sufficient to cover the capital costs associated with delivery, with the ongoing commitments related to the management and maintenance of the development. Cost rental is a model that is delivered at scale in a number of European countries and which in the long term has been shown to help stabilise rent cost fluctuations and deliver security of tenure. To drive delivery, a number of important cost rental pilot projects are being advanced. They include the Enniskerry Road site in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and the site of the former St. Michael's estate in Inchicore, where 50 and 330 homes, respectively, are to be developed. The contract for the work on the Enniskerry Road site is expected to be awarded later in quarter two of this year.

Separately, the Department is engaging with the National Development Finance Agency, the European Investment Bank and the Land Development Agency on the issue of cost rental, with a view to examining the optimum funding and delivery options and establishing a consistent national approach to support delivery at scale in Dublin and other urban areas. The work of the Land Development Agency will also be of crucial importance in delivering more affordable and cost rental housing. The initial portfolio of sites to which the agency has access has the potential in the short to medium term to deliver 3,000 affordable homes in line with the Government's policy of achieving 30% affordable housing on State lands generally.

In parallel, the Dublin local authorities continue to progress a number of other significant housing projects on publicly owned lands, including the redevelopment of O’Devaney Gardens and a site on Oscar Traynor Road in Dublin city, yielding approximately 280 affordable homes. Taken together, programmes are in place, under which nearly 18,000 affordable homes or homes with a LIHAF-related reduction will be delivered. In addition, it is important to note that, in terms of affordability, over 11,200 households have been supported through the Rebuilding Ireland home loan and the help-to buy-scheme, demonstrating the Government’s commitment to using a range of mechanisms and initiatives to support households in addressing the affordability challenges they face.

On the specific issue raised by the Senator in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, I do not have the full facts, but it appears remarkable, in the absence of some glaring omission, that a council would vote not to approve an affordable housing scheme in its area, particularly when Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown is one of the areas facing major affordability issues. I will endeavour to get the Minister to respond directly to the Senator on the question of what will happens next.

Photo of Victor BoyhanVictor Boyhan (Independent)
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The real concern is those two pages do not address the question of targets, the principal question I asked. I use the term "targets" because I read a circular on the RTÉ news website recently in which the Taoiseach was quoted directly as saying it was important that targets be set for the 31 local authorities. Nowhere in this response which was drawn up by a civil servant are targets mentioned. We can keep admitting that we have problems, but if we do not set targets for delivery across the 31 local authorities, how can improvements be measured?

I am reminded by my colleague, the former Minister for Justice and Equality, Senator McDowell, that 14 years ago Shanganagh Castle was sold to the local authority for the delivery of housing. The site has been sat on it ever since and nothing has been done about it. There a major affordability crisis in the area. We also have the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum where approximately 36 acres of State lands are being sat on. I have singled out two State sites, for neither of which are there major plans for the delivery of affordable housing. The clock is ticking; we have to deliver affordable houses, for both purchase and rental.

I thank the Minister of State and ask him to convey to the necessary authorities in the Customs House the need to respond to me this week with some explanation or rationale as to why Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown could not accept or agree to some compromise for an affordable housing priority draft scheme.

Photo of John Paul PhelanJohn Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I do not have much of a response, other than to say I will relay the Senator's comments to the Minister. The Senator was a member of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County council until four years ago. The Shanganagh Castle site-----

Photo of Victor BoyhanVictor Boyhan (Independent)
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I know that.

Photo of John Paul PhelanJohn Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Ultimately, in the delivery of local authority housing it is the local authority that is supposed to be the primary driver, though sometimes that is not the case.

Photo of John Paul PhelanJohn Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Shanganagh site may have the potential for 540 homes overall and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is required to carry out a cost-benefit analysis and financial modelling exercise under the public spending code, which sounds like the language of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Photo of Michael McDowellMichael McDowell (Independent)
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The delay charter.

Photo of John Paul PhelanJohn Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I accept the point about a site being owned for 14 years but I will ask the Minister, when he is dealing with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown in his response, to see where Shanganagh fits in.

Photo of Victor BoyhanVictor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate that.