Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

346. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the steps his Department is taking to ensure older people who wish to downsize or right-size are able to do so; the assistance provided in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17317/24]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

358. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of councils that offer a contribution scheme under which persons in homes too big for their needs can sell or offer the home to the council and, in return for a contribution from the proceeds of a sale, secure a council tenancy in a secure complex; and the number of homes that have been processed under this scheme in the past three years. [17499/24]

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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 346 and 358 together.

Housing for All commits to increasing the housing options available to older people to facilitate ageing in place with dignity and independence, including the development of a policy on rightsizing. The Housing for All policy objective to make more efficient use of existing housing stock includes the development of a national policy on rightsizing and to explore options to support and incentivise rightsizing on a voluntary basis. Work is being advanced in my Department to inform and progress the development of national policy on rightsizing.

Whilst some local authorities operate rightsizing schemes, housing supports and the oversight and practical management of housing waiting lists, including the application for, and allocation of, tenancies, is solely a matter for the relevant local authority in accordance with the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, and associated regulations. Further detail on the numbers of households who have availed of local authority rightsizing schemes may be available directly from local authorities.

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

Since the publication of the current Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines in 2005 (which continue to have effect in addition to subsequent clarifications and national policy changes in the NPF) there have been important changes to our planning system. Most notably, obligations under European Directives and international agreements relating to the management and protection of the environment and adapting to and mitigating climate change have become more central to the operation of the planning system.

Updated Rural Housing Guidelines are currently being prepared by my Department. The updated guidelines will expand on the high level spatial planning policy of the National Planning Framework (NPF), in particular on National Policy Objective (NPO) 19 which relates to rural housing. This objective makes a clear policy distinction between rural areas under urban influence (i.e. areas within the commuter catchment of cities, towns and centres of employment) on the one hand, and structurally weaker rural areas where population levels may be low or declining, on the other. NPO 19 is also aligned with the established approach whereby considerations of social or economic need are to be applied by planning authorities in rural areas under urban influence.

The draft Rural Housing Guidelines will set out relevant planning criteria to be applied in local authority development plans for rural housing, based on the high level policy framework set by the NPF. The guidelines will continue to allow county development plans to provide for housing in the countryside based on the considerations detailed in NPO 19 of the NPF, and will also highlight the need to manage development in certain areas, such as the areas around cities and larger towns and environmentally sensitive areas, in order to avoid over-development.

While planning policy is a national, as opposed to an EU competence, due care is being taken to ensure the updated guidelines will not operate to conflict with fundamental EU freedoms, comply with EU environmental legislative requirements and have due regard to decisions of the European Court of Justice. The draft planning guidelines will address these complex environmental and legal issues, while also providing a framework for the sustainable management of housing in rural areas.

Having regard to these complex considerations, the draft guidelines are subject to legal review and Ministerial approval, following which it is intended that the draft guidelines will be published for a period of public consultation.