Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

452. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of residential units that will be commenced in County Kildare in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13719/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The information requested is not available within my Department. 

In accordance with the Building Control Act 1990 and the Building Control Regulations made thereunder, a commencement notice signed by the owner must be submitted to the local building control authority not less than 14 days and not more than 28 days prior to commencement of works coming with the scope of the regulations, including the construction a new residential unit. The building control authority then has 7 days to determine the validity or otherwise of the commencement notice received; once validated, key particulars of the commencement notice are referenced on the public register of building control activity which can be viewed online at the following weblink - .

My Department publishes a statistical series based on commencement notices for new-build residential units submitted to each local building control authority each month. During 2016, commencement notices relating to a total of 919 new residential units were submitted to Kildare County Council. This is a 28% increase on the number of residential commencement notices submitted in Kildare during 2015 (718 units). In January 2017, the latest month for which details are available, commencement notices relating to a total of 73 residential units were submitted to Kildare County Council (the comparable figure for January 2016 was 36 units).

As the Deputy will be aware, under-supply of housing across all tenures is at the heart of the significant challenges which exist in the housing sector. At an overall level, 25,000 new homes per year are targeted to meet demand nationally.

The key objective of the Government's Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan on Housing and Homelessness is to increase and accelerate housing delivery, across all tenures, to help individuals and families find homes. With regard to increasing the supply of private housing in particular, Pillar 3 of Rebuilding Ireland, entitled “Build More Homes”, has as its key objective a doubling of housing output, from approximately 12,500 homes in 2015, to at least 25,000 homes per annum by 2021. In order to support the supply of affordable housing and to ensure a steady supply of development land and planning permissions so that housing providers can plan ahead effectively in response to current and emerging demands in Kildare and other counties, Rebuilding Ireland sets out key actions which provide for:

-active State-land management;

-greater certainty in the planning process, including provisions introduced in the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016;

-targeted investment in enabling infrastructure, including through the €200 million Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund;

-competitive financing for developers to fund on-site housing infrastructure through ISIF; and

-development of capacity and skills within the construction sector.

The Strategy for the Rental Sector published in December 2016 also contains a number of actions targeted at increasing the supply of properties to rent; these actions have been incorporated into the reporting under Rebuilding Ireland. Updates on the implementation of Rebuilding Ireland, including those that will encourage the supply of housing nationally, are outlined in the first two Quarterly Progress Reports, covering the cumulative period from July to December 2016, which are available on .  The Third Quarterly Progress Report, covering Quarter 1 2017, is expected to be published in early May 2017.

Under the auspices of the Cabinet Committee on Housing, chaired by An Taoiseach, the Government will be keeping the implementation of Rebuilding Ireland under regular and active review.