Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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1010. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the key historic reasons for the difficulties being experienced in relation to the provision of housing here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11792/18]

Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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1012. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the efforts put in place since 2011 to address the housing problem here; the success rate of same to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11843/18]

Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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1015. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the impact Rebuilding Ireland has had on the housing crisis here since its launch; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11894/18]

Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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1019. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the shortcomings that have been identified in the Rebuilding Ireland programme since its launch; the efforts that have been taken to address these; the issues that have affected efforts in providing affordable accommodation here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11956/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1010, 1012, 1015 and 1019 together.

The economic downturn had a very significant impact on housing supply and the construction industry. Between the peak in 2006 and the trough in 2013, housing construction fell by over 90%. In particular, all forms of medium- to large-scale residential development in our cities and urban areas stalled.  With our economy returning to significant and consistent growth and with increasing population and employment, a significant increase in new homes is needed, and demand is outstripping supply, leading to a shortage of new homes and house price and rent inflation.

Having regard to this, the Government has made the delivery of new homes, social, affordable and private, a top priority through the development, resourcing and implementation of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, published in July 2016. The Plan built on previous strategies and was informed, in particular, by the Report of the Oireachtas Committee on Housing and Homelessness and extensive engagement with key stakeholders.

The Government’s initial focus has been on delivering homes for households in the lowest income brackets, through the commitment of over €6 billion to deliver 50,000 new social housing homes by 2021, with qualifying households also able to avail of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) and other targeted programmes. Building on the progress made under the 2011 Housing Policy Statement and the Social Housing Strategy 2020, including the roll out of HAP and the delivery of built, acquired and leased social housing homes, Rebuilding Ireland commits to meeting the housing needs of over 137,000 households by the end of 2021.

The implementation of Rebuilding Ireland is well underway and significant progress is being made. This was evident in the Social Housing Output indicative figures published in January 2018, showing that nearly 26,000 households had their social housing need met in 2017, exceeding the target set.  Of the combined target of 137,000, just under 45,000 households (or some 33% of the target for the 6 years) have had their social housing need met by the end of year 2 of the Plan.  Further details can be accessed through the Social Housing Delivery 2017 Report (January 2018), which is available on the Rebuilding Ireland website at link: .

Rebuilding Ireland has also prioritised supporting the supply of new and more affordable homes more generally, through, inter alia, fast-track planning reforms and more flexible planning guidelines; €200 million investment in enabling infrastructure; the development of large-scale mixed-tenure projects on State lands; and the help-to-buy scheme to assist first-time buyers.

To help renters in the parts of the country where rents are highest and rising, the Government  introduced Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs), where rents can only increase by a maximum of 4% annually for three years. Currently, the measure covers almost 57% of existing rental properties across the country, including 100% of rental properties in the two largest cities, Dublin and Cork.

In Budget 2018, the Government removed significant obstacles to building more homes more quickly, by investing more in direct house-building by the State; removing the Capital Gains Tax incentive to hold on to residential land; escalating penalties for land hoarding; introducing a new €25 million Serviced Sites fund and a second LIHAF infrastructural investment fund; and providing a new, more affordable finance vehicle for builders through Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI).

As part of the review of Rebuilding Ireland, a further package of affordability measures was announced on 22 January 2018, with a new Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan, a new Affordable Purchase Scheme, and a focus on cost rental projects.

Most recently, on 9 March, I published new planning guidelines to facilitate delivery of a broader mix of apartment types to meet contemporary housing demand, particularly in urban areas, for example in the emerging ‘build to rent’ and ‘shared accommodation’ sectors.

Residential construction capacity was very badly affected by the downturn and it is taking time to recover. However, there are very positive signs that Rebuilding Ireland and the collaborative efforts of my Department, local authorities, approved housing bodies and many other delivery partners and stakeholders are working. Together with the excellent progress made on social housing, residential construction commencements for the year to end-January 2018, stood at nearly 18,000 homes, up 34% year on year. Other more recent initiatives and reforms will have a further positive impact in the period ahead.