Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

564. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the total number of persons currently on the various local authority housing lists throughout the country, with particular reference to County Kildare; the extent to which rent increases in the private sector are making it impossible for such families to exist or remain in their homes; if urgent provision will be made to meet their requirements. thus preventing a further escalation in homelessness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46350/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The most recent statutory Assessment of Housing Need was undertaken in May 2013. It identified 89,872 households which qualified for social housing support. Of the 89,872 households recorded as in need of housing as at 7 May, 2013, there were 2,808 households recorded having a housing need due to living in an institution, emergency accommodation or hostel.  Full details of the 2013 Housing Need Assessment, including information on County Kildare, are available on my Department’s website at:

On 20 May 2014, the Implementation Plan on the State's Response to Homelessness was published in which the Government's approach to delivery on its objective of ending involuntary long-term homelessness by the end of 2016 was outlined.  A copy of this plan is available on my Department's website at: .

This plan sets out a range of measures to secure a ring-fenced supply of accommodation to house homeless households and mobilise the necessary supports.  Progress in implementing the plan is reported quarterly through the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy and a copy of the Quarter 3 Progress Report is also available on my Department's website at the link provided above.

I am conscious of the difficulties caused by rising rents and the problem of sourcing suitable accommodation.  Part 3 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 deals with rent and rent reviews. Under the Act, rent may not be greater than the open market rate and may be reviewed (upward or downward) only once a year unless there has been a substantial change in the nature of the accommodation that warrants a review.  Tenants must be given 28 days’ notice of the new rent and may ask their landlord to review the rent if they feel it exceeds the market rate for the property.  Disputes about any aspect of rent may be referred to the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PTRB).

The fundamental reason behind the rise in rents is a lack of supply. Increasing both public and private housing supply is, therefore, a critical issue.  In this regard,the Social Housing Strategy 2020: Support Supply and Reform, approved by Government and published last week, builds on the provisions contained in Budget 2015 and provides a clear governance structure, which as Minister I will personally oversee, to ensure delivery of all actions. The Strategy commits to supplying 35,000 additional social housing units at a cost of €3.8 billion over the next 6 years, as well as meeting the housing needs of some 75,000 households through local authority provision via the private rented sector using the Housing Assistance Payment and Rental Accommodation Schemes, in effect providing a road map to accommodate all those currently on Housing Waiting Lists by 2020.