Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the Land Development Agency and €5bn funding through the Housing Finance Agency.

Social Housing is delivered through a range of local authority and Approved Housing Body (AHB) delivery programmes across the build acquisition and lease delivery streams. For 2023, the Government has agreed that there will be increased provision for social housing acquisitions and my Department is funding local authorities to acquire at least 1,500 social homes. The additional acquisitions are focused on properties where a tenant in receipt of social housing supports has received a Notice of Termination due to the landlord’s intention to sell the property.

In relation to affordable housing, under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 54,000 affordable homes between now and 2030, to be facilitated by local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), the Land Development Agency (LDA) and through the First Home scheme, a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.

In addition to the affordable schemes in place, the Cost Rental Tenant In-Situ (CRTiS) was introduced on 1 April 2023, for tenants in private rental homes who are at risk of homelessness because a landlord has served a valid Notice of Termination due to an intention to sell the property. The Housing Agency may purchase the home and allow the tenant to continue residing in it, where the tenant is not in receipt of social housing supports and has a net household income within the limits set for Cost Rental housing (increased on 1 August to €66,000 for Cost Rental homes in Dublin and €59,000 in the rest of Ireland). The scheme is administered by the Housing Agency and, as of the end of Q2 2023, 68 cases had been referred to the Housing Agency by 21 local authorities. It is intended that data in relation to the Scheme will be published on a quarterly basis.

My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on social and affordable housing delivery activity by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in each local authority, including completed social housing acquisitions. Statistics up to the end of Quarter 2 2023 are available on the statistics page of my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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130. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide an update on a review (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49028/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Housing Act 1966 provides for the charging of rent by local authorities on social housing tenancies. Rents are based on household income levels, with those on lower incomes paying lower rents. This system is known as the ‘differential rents’ system. It is a critical piece of State’s welfare apparatus, subsidising housing costs and supporting households who can’t meet their long-term accommodation needs from their own resources.

The system currently comprises 32 income-based schemes which differ across local authorities, with amounts charged and approaches to calculating rent varying considerably.

To this end, the Programme for Government and Housing for All have committed to developing proposals for a standardised, national local authority social housing rent model. The objective is to develop and implement a model that provides the best blend between fairness, progressivity and sustainability.

My Department has completed an initial scoping exercise to determine the focus of the review, with an emphasis on achieving the best blend of equity, progressivity and sustainability and on protecting those on lowest incomes. This is a complex area and requires detailed and careful analysis. My view is that further work is required to consider the practical application of such a scheme in the context of other reform package measures, as well as the broader circumstances of social housing funding programmes and the cost of living issues at this time.

Proposals will be submitted for my consideration in due course and a decision to implement a standardised national rents scheme will be considered thereafter, as appropriate.