Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 449: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans for social housing; if he will amend the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18973/11]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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On 16 June I launched the Government's new housing policy statement which will serve as a framework for a sequence of legislative and policy initiatives in the short to medium term. Based on a number of fundamental principles and goals that will form the foundation of a substantial reform programme, the new framework for housing policy responds to current and emerging conditions in the housing sector, taking account of the dramatic cycle of rapid growth and sudden collapse in the residential property market.

In terms of the delivery of social housing, the policy statement clearly identifies that the main focus in terms of supports provided by Government will be on meeting the most acute needs – the housing support needs of those unable to provide for their accommodation from own resources.

The financial parameters which will apply over the coming years rule out a return to very large capital funded construction programmes by local authorities. Delivery of social housing will be significantly facilitated through more flexible funding models such as RAS and leasing, but the Government is also committed to developing other funding mechanisms that will increase the supply of permanent new social housing. Such mechanisms will include options to purchase, build to lease and the sourcing of loan finance by approved housing bodies for construction and acquisition.

As part of the process of improving the regulatory framework within which approved housing bodies operate, thereby facilitating such bodies' access to loan financing options, I am considering making amendments to the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1992. Such amendments would relate to the methodology by which bodies are designated as approved housing bodies and to the process by which guidelines might be issued to such bodies.