Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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408. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the measures he has taken to improve the provision of social housing since July 2020; his assessment of the impact of these measures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29314/24]

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 an average of 10,000 new build social homes each year in the period to 2030. 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.

Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 47,600 new build social homes; 3,500 social homes through long-term leasing and 28,500 new affordable homes in the period 2022-2026. Local authorities have published Housing Delivery Action Plans, setting out details of social and affordable housing delivery over a five-year period, which includes details of the locations of housing projects. The Plans have been published on local authority websites.

Increased delivery of social housing is a key Housing for All objective and is supported through a range of funding streams delivered via local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs). The number of completed new build social homes, and the number in the pipeline, continues to grow year-on-year, with new construction projects added to the pipeline regularly.

Almost 12,000 new social homes were delivered in 2023 through a mix of new builds, acquisitions and leasing programmes, an increase of 16% on 2022 (10,263). Notably, delivery in 2022 was the highest annual output of social homes in decades and the highest level of delivery of new-build social housing since 1975.

There were 8,110 new build social homes delivered in 2023, bringing total delivery to more than 25,800 over the last four years.

At end-2023, more than 22,500 social homes were at various stages of design, procurement and construction, with almost 7,100 and 15,500 onsite and at design and tender stage, respectively.

More than 1,800 social houses were acquired in 2023, with a primary focus on properties where HAP or RAS tenants had received a Notice of Termination: a similarly strong acquisitions pipeline is in place for 2024, with more than 1,500 homes expected to be acquired.

Some 2,130 new social homes are targeted through various leasing schemes in 2024.

Social housing delivery is increasing year-on-year, with preliminary data suggesting a similar increase in 2024. My Department continues to work with the local authorities and AHBs to maximise delivery for this and subsequent years, and I have introduced a number of initiatives to support them in their work and build on this momentum.

I have approved over 250 additional housing posts in local authorities nationally to deliver social housing. In order to accelerate the approval process, local authorities have options that allow them to deviate from using the 4-stage process to achieve funding approval for social housing construction projects. I have also increased the value for Single Stage projects from €2m to €8m. This increased single stage approval process takes approximately 4 weeks with my Department.

Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) has been identified as a key measure to address increased housing delivery and methods to support increased use of MMC are set out in Pathway 5 of Housing for All. In July 2023 the Roadmap for increased adoption of MMC in Public Housing delivery was published and sets out recommendations to progress the most advanced and efficient construction methods in the delivery of housing.

In December 2022, funding of €94m was provided to local authorities to address legacy land debts. The provision of this funding was linked to the immediate development of a housing proposal, a commitment to use MMC and for construction to start in 2023 or no later than 2024. A total of 26 sites received funding as part of an accelerated delivery programme, and with some additional sites since added, my Department is overseeing a project to progress delivery of MMC projects on 36 sites which will deliver more than 1,500 new social homes across 13 local authorities. A project manager was also appointed in the Housing Delivery Coordination Office to help support the social housing delivery and to manage the programme of accelerated delivery.

My Department has embedded the requirement to adopt a standardised approach for all Social Housing projects through adoption of the Design Manual for Quality Housing and Employers Requirements. Standard internal layouts and CAD Drawings are available to design teams. This is promoting a consistent approach nationally; it is decreasing the amount of time spent on reviewing proposals to achieve value for money; it is shortening detailed design phases; and it allows for a more efficient tender process.

I have also commenced Section 179A of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. These provisions provide that housing developments by, on behalf of, or in partnership with a local authority which commences construction before the end of 2024 will be exempt from planning permission and from the Local Authority ’Part 8’ process, subject to a number of specific conditions.

To support local authorities and AHBs to acquire land to deliver new build social housing schemes, I established the Housing for All Land Acquisition Fund in 2022. My Department is providing pre-proposal funding to encourage local authorities to undertake early site assessments in order to identify any initial issues in advance of the development of Capital Appraisal and Detailed Design.

The review of the CALF Funding Model has also brought an opportunity for the AHB and local authority sectors to bring forward both new projects and those which have been delayed due to viability issues, especially in those local authorities’ areas where the viability of schemes was traditionally an issue. The new CALF scheme has unlocked these areas for social housing delivery.

Significant progress is being made to deliver the ambitious targets contained in Housing for All and my Department is working closely with the local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies and other stakeholders to accelerate the delivery of both social and affordable housing.