Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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81. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the funding set aside in 2016 and 2017, respectively, for the social housing investment programme with a breakdown by the constituent elements; the projected number of units and bed spaces to be delivered via this funding in each of these years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33173/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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To support the implementation of Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, I have secured €5.35 billion in exchequer investment to deliver 47,000 social housing units through build, refurbishment, acquisitions and leasing, over the period 2016 to 2021. This €5.35bn investment comprises some €4.5 billion in capital funding and €844 million in support of programmes funded from current expenditure.

The funding available in 2016 for social housing programmes comprises an Exchequer investment of almost €821 million across a range of housing programmes. In addition, local authorities will fund a range of housing services from surplus Local Property Tax receipts to the value of over €112 million, bringing the total housing provision in 2016 to €933 million. The specific amounts allocated to individual housing programmes in 2016 are available on the website of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform at the following link:

The 2016 funding provision will provide for the housing needs of over 17,000 households to be met under a range of social housing initiatives, details of which are available on my Department’s website at the following link:

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The corresponding delivery target for 2017 is over 21,000, supported by the €1.2 billion allocated to housing programmes under Budget 2017. This will be supplemented by €92 million which local authorities will self-fund from surplus Local Property Tax receipts, bringing the total 2017 housing provision to €1.3 billion.

The 2017 funding provision will support the delivery of 4,450 social housing units which will be supplied via my Department’s capital programme, including 2,350 units to be delivered by local authorities through construction activity (i.e. new build and refurbishment/regeneration), 75 units to be acquired by local authorities, with the equivalent figures for approved housing bodies being 550 and 1,175. It is expected that some 300 additional new units will be built and made available for social housing via Part V mechanisms and will be owned by either local authorities or approved housing bodies. A further 150 units will be secured for social housing using the new Repair and Leasing Scheme and around 450 units will be leased directly by local authorities or AHBs from private property owners and developers under longterm lease arrangements.

In addition, 15,000 additional tenancies will be supported by the accelerated roll-out of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), and an additional 1,000 households will transfer into units supported by the Rental Assistance Scheme (RAS) during 2017.