1,800 people still awaiting housing in Westmeath

The government estimates that in the region of 5,000 units will be provided for social housing in 2013.

Jan O’Sullivan, TD, Minister of State, Department of Environment, Community and Local government provided the information in response to a parliamentary question from Mullingar deputy, Robert Troy.

His question was: to ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local government if she will be giving county councils any money this year to purchase homes; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Deputy Troy's comments

Deputy Troy has welcomed the news that €32m in funding is been made available for social housing. €20m will go directly to local authorities and provide for the purchase of up to 131 homes for those on waiting lists, while €12.2m will be allocated to buy properties for those living with disabilities.

Deputy Troy has raised this issue directly with the minister on numerous occasions as he has witnessed a dramatic increase in social housing concerns locally.

He said: “I am pleased the minister has finally agreed to allocate additional funding, but it simply does not go far enough, in Westmeath alone almost 1,800 people are awaiting homes. The number of people on the housing list in Ireland has risen dramatically in the past two years and now stands at 110,000. The minister needs to realise the severity of this situation and release adequate funding for local authorities to purchase homes.

“There are hundreds of empty houses in Westmeath which are only creating negative equity and are not generating income. The government needs to invest much further in this sector by purchasing empty properties in the county. An investment such as this would not only house a family but it would generate employment and growth in the area. I firmly agree with The Irish Council for Social Housing who said the government can do more for this sector.”

The reply to the TD from the minister for state was:

The government’s housing policy statement, published in June 2011, clearly identifies that the priority for government will be to meet the most acute needs of households applying for social housing support.

I am determined to ensure that the social housing programme is framed in a manner which optimises the delivery of social housing and the return for the resources invested. To achieve this it is essential that we tailor the use of available Exchequer supports to prevailing conditions and explore the full range of solutions to address housing needs.

The social housing capital budget has been reduced from €1.535 billion in 2008 to €332.7m in 2012, with an anticipated outturn of some €299m for 2013, and the financial parameters within which we will be operating for the coming years rule out a return to large capital funded construction programmes.

Nevertheless, the government is committed to responding more quickly and on a larger scale to social housing support needs through a variety of mechanisms, including through increased provision of social housing. In spite of the challenging circumstances within which local authorities have been operating, a tentative out-turn in the order of 4,000 housing units was achieved in 2012.

Given the current volatility of the market and different challenges to the channels of supply, it is difficult to estimate the likely output of new units for social housing this year. However, it is provisionally estimated that in the region of 5,000 units will be provided for social housing in 2013.

Delivery of social housing will be significantly facilitated through more flexible funding models such as social leasing, but the government is also committed to developing other funding mechanisms that will increase the supply of permanent new social housing. Such mechanisms will include options to purchase, build to lease and the sourcing of loan finance by approved housing bodies for construction and acquisition.

There is also obvious potential, across a range of housing programmes, for the government’s objective of sourcing and providing suitable residential units for use as social housing to be aligned with the commercial objectives of the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA). My Department and the Housing Agency are working closely with NAMA with the aim of ensuring that a significant number of housing units are made available in this way by NAMA in the current year and beyond.