Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

146. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if an audit has been carried out to determine the best value for money to his Department of direct build local authority houses compared with housing assistance payment, or rent support, given that neither of the latter schemes present a permanent resolution to the applicants' housing needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15909/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) are forms of social housing support, provided by my Department, for people who have a long-term housing need.

In order for a household to qualify for HAP, they must first be assessed as eligible for social housing support by their local authority. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP and those households must source their own accommodation in the private rental sector.

Households in receipt of a payment under the HAP scheme are not eligible to remain on the main housing waiting list. However, acknowledging that some households on the waiting list, who avail of HAP, have expectations that they would receive a more traditional form of social housing support, Ministerial directions have issued to ensure that, should they so choose, HAP recipients can avail of a move to other forms of social housing support through a transfer list. Overall, a total of 21,015 HAP recipients have exited HAP to other forms of social housing.

RAS has been an important contributor to social housing supply and places responsibility on local authorities to meet the accommodation needs of people in receipt of Rent Supplement for 18 months or longer, and who are assessed as having a long-term housing need. The scheme is delivered by local authorities who source accommodation from both the private market and Approved Housing Bodies.

In RAS, all new tenants from 1 April 2011 are considered to have their housing need met and therefore they cannot remain on the main social housing waiting list. However, such tenants can be provided with the option of being placed on the transfer list, similar to tenants in local authority housing. To address the expectations of RAS tenants before this date, guidance from the Housing Agency in 2011 recommended a special transfer process for those tenants to access other social housing support. From 2016 to end 2022, a total of 5,648 RAS tenancies exited to other forms of social housing.

Responsibility for the Rent Supplement Scheme falls within the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection.

My Department continually monitors the implementation of policies and objectives in relation to social housing, as well as the costs associated with implementation, and works to ensure the best value for money for the level of resources available, taking account of the level of housing needs to be met.

This is reflected in my Department’s regular participation in Spending Reviews led by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, which in recent years have examined expenditure across a range of housing measures. These reviews demonstrate that, while in certain specific urban/rural scenarios it is arguable that one type of housing delivery may be more costly than another, in overall terms value for money is being achieved.

Under the Housing for All strategy, the Government plans to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 homes per year over the next decade, including an average of 10,000 new build social homes. In 2022, 10,254 new social homes were delivered, including 7,433 new-build homes, 951 acquisitions and 1,870 homes delivered through leasing programmes. This represents the highest delivery of new build social housing since 1975. 2023 saw a further 16% increase on 2022 delivery with 11,939 new social homes delivered, including 8,110 new-build homes, 1,830 acquisitions and 1,999 homes delivered through leasing programmes.

As we continue to increase the supply of social housing, there will be reducing reliance on the HAP and RAS schemes.