James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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106. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to address the housing crisis in County Wexford; if he will consider establishing Gorey as a rent pressure zone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46923/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Addressing the challenges in the housing sector remains a top priority for the Government. The Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan provides a comprehensive framework for addressing the range of complex issues which need to be addressed, with a particular focus on increasing and accelerating housing delivery, across all tenures. The Plan is underpinned by over €6 billion in funding to support the delivery of over 50,000 new social housing homes and some 87,000 other housing supports over the 6 years 2016 to 2021.

Significant progress has been made in 2016 and 2017, in partnership with local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies and a range of other delivery partners, with over 45,000 individuals and families having their housing needs met during those 2 years, and a further 25,500 households expected to be supported this year. The level of progress being made is reflected in social housing waiting lists, which have reduced by 22%, from 91,600 households to 71,858, between 2016 and 2018. In Wexford, the number of households on waiting lists has reduced by more than 15% from 2,577 in 2017 to 2,177 in 2018.

Wexford County Council, and the Approved Housing Bodies it is working with, have a social housing construction programme of 52 projects either already complete or at planning, design, tender or construction stage, which will deliver 605 homes.

My Department continues to engage actively with all local authorities, including Wexford County Council, to deliver social housing through all available avenues, with a particular emphasis on additional construction projects.

In relation to the rental sector, section 24A of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2016 provides that the Housing Agency, in consultation with housing authorities, may make a proposal to the Minister that an area should be considered for designation as a Rent Pressure Zone. Following receipt of such a proposal, the Minister requests the Director of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) to conduct an assessment of the area to establish whether or not it meets the criteria for designation and to report to the Minister on whether the area should be designated as a Rent Pressure Zone. For the purpose of the Act, ‘area’ is defined as either the administrative area of a housing authority or a local electoral area within the meaning of section 2 of the Local Government Act 2001. There is no provision for any other type of area to be designated as a Rent Pressure Zone.

For an area to be designated a Rent Pressure Zone, it must satisfy the following criteria set out in section 24A(4) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (as inserted by section 36 of the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016):

(i) the annual rate of rent inflation in the area must have been 7% or more in four of the last six quarters; and

(ii) the average rent for tenancies registered in the area with the RTB in the last quarter must be above the average national rent (the National Standardised Rent in the RTB’s Rent Index Report) in the last quarter (€1,094 per month in Q2 2018).

The RTB Rent Index Report includes a summary in Table 9 of the data used to establish whether each Local Electoral Area fulfils the criteria for designation as a Rent Pressure Zone. This allows everyone to see exactly where their area stands in relation to average rent levels and increases and possible designation.

Further information on Rent Pressure Zones and designations is available on my Department's website at by searching 'rent pressure zones - information'.

The data from the Rent Index Report for Q2 2018 relating to the local electoral area of Gorey, County Wexford is detailed in the table below:

In Gorey, while in 4 of the last 6 quarters rent inflation has been 7% or greater, the average monthly rent is below the national standardised rent of €1,094 per month. Therefore, the Local Electoral Area of Gorey does not meet the criteria for designation at this time.

The Housing Agency continues to monitor the rental market and may recommend further areas for designation. Where, following the procedures set out in the Act, it is found at a future date that additional areas meet the criteria, they will be designated as Rent Pressure Zones.