Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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863. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the report (details supplied) indicating an 8.5% increase in house prices in 2015 and the measures he will introduce for affordable accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1103/16]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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A shortage of supply is at the heart of the current challenges in the housing sector and the Government is addressing this on a number of fronts. A number of important measures have been taken already aimed at improving housing viability and increasing supply. The Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015, which commenced in September 2015, introduced a number of reforms in relation to, inter alia, Part V of the Planning and Development Acts; the retrospective application of reduced development contributions; and the introduction of a vacant site levy.

These measures were introduced to incentivise the development of vacant and underutilised sites for housing and regeneration purposes. Together, these legislative provisions are aimed at putting in place structural reforms of planning and land development processes that will support an increase in the output of housing to meet the needs of everyone in Ireland .

Given that these measures will take time to fully impact on supply, the Government agreed a comprehensive suite of shorter-term measures to improve the operation of the private rental sector and stimulate increased housing supply, as set out in the document Stabilising Rents, Boosting Supply(November 2015).

Details of the full package of rent stability and housing supply measures are available on my Department’s website at the following link:

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I have enacted two major pieces of legislation to put the key elements of Stabilising Rents, Boosting Supplyon a statutory footing, namely:

-The Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2015, which strengthens the status of aspects of planning guidelines issued to local authorities on planning matters to ensure their consistent application, particularly in relation to Apartment Standard Guidelines. It also streamlines the process for the making of modifications to Strategic Development Zoneplanning schemes; and;

-The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015, which provides for an increased rent review period from one to two years; increased notice periods for rent reviews and greater protections for both tenants and landlords. These measures will bring much-needed stability to the rental sector pending the coming on-stream of the supply of new housing.

Cognisant of the difficulty faced by some households in accessing the housing market, an affordable rental pilot scheme was announced as part of Budget 2016 with €10 million being made available to fund a pilot in 2016. This will be an on-going annual commitment to secure a long- term increase in the supply of affordable properties to meet the needs of those households that would struggle to make rental payments under present market conditions.

The pilot Scheme is expected to work on the basis of tenants paying the majority of the rental cost from their own resources, with the State helping to meet the shortfall. It is intended that the scheme would be made available to employed low to moderate income households together with being a possible support option for some households who qualify for social housing support. Details of the Scheme are currently being finalised in my Department.

In addition, NAMA is aiming to deliver a target of 20,000 residential units before the end of 2020 with 90% of these units to be in the greater Dublin area, with approximately 75% of the units being starter homes.

The approach taken by Government is a comprehensive one and I am committed to doing all that it is possible to overcome the difficulties faced by households in accessing the housing marketso that every household will have access to secure, good quality housing suited to their needs at an affordable price in a sustainable community.