BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

MARIA PEPPER ASKS IF THE GOVERNMENT’S NEW PLAN TO TACKLE THE HOUSING CRISIS REALLY IS THE FOUNDATION STONE FOR A BETTER FUTURE, AND DISCOVERS WHAT IT MEANS FOR WEXFORD

‘REBUILDING Ireland’, one of the most ambitious housing action plans in the history of the state was launched by the Government in response to the country’s national accommodation and homelessness crisis. The €5.35 billion plan was unveiled by the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government Simon Coveney and is designed to accelerate all types of housing supply including social, private and rental.

It aims to address homelessness, accelerate social housing, build more homes, improve the rental sector and utilise existing housing, according to the Minister who said he is determined that the housing crisis is going to be addressed ‘fully and finally’.

‘ The plan is action-focused and will result in a dramatic increase in the delivery of much-needed homes in the right locations at more affordable prices.’

‘Over the next six years, we are going to provide 47,000 new social houses and we are going to progressively increase housing output generally towards the target of producing 25,000 homes per year through all channels’, the Minister promised.

This is to ensure that ‘all our people have access to quality and affordable housing either through their own endeavours or with the support of the State,’ he said.

‘It is about changing people’s lives by providing affordable stable homes for them and solving the housing challenges that touch practically every family across the country.’

Minister Coveney said the Government is committed to a range of measures to reverse the chronic under-supply of new homes that is making new home purchase and rents increasingly unaffordable and driving more people into homelessness.

The immediate priority is housing homeless families, many of whom are living in hotels and B&B’s but all aspects of the housing system are covered.

‘Young people looking to rent or buy, families looking to trade up or down, students who need good accommodation, older people, people with a disability and others are all encompassed within the plan,’ said the Minister.

‘It’s crucial that we move from words to actions immediately. We may not have all the answers to address every issue right now but the actions, funding and structures that we are announcing have the potential to make early and very substan- tial progress on the journey to fixing our broken housing sector,’ he said.

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe said the country faces major challenges in funding public services depleted by reduced investment following the economic crash, with a shortage of housing and homelessness being among the worst.

‘I am therefore making available an additional €2,200 million in capital to 2021 or 43% of the available public capital for investment in housing under this Action Plan. Housing will also be a priority for current expenditure in the annual estimates, he said.

The Action Plan which was a cornerstone of the Programme for a Partnership Government, has been welcomed by a range of organisations including the Construction Industry Federation, ALONE, the County and City Management Association and the Union of Students in Ireland.

Sean Moynihan, the CEO of ALONE, the charity that supports older people to age at home, said it is happy that the Government is recognising accommodation issues among the elderly.

‘Repeated studies have shown that ageing at home is the first choice of older people and their families. It is critical that all local authorities follow this lead so that housing developments for older people are implemented throughout the country.’

ALONE welcomed the proposal to make the Housing Adaptation Grant available to 10,000 homes in 2017, up from 8,000 nationally this year, and to streamline the application process for older people.

The Government intends to develop policies for supported housing/housing with care so that elderly people have a wider range of residential care choices available to them.

‘It is good to see that the Government are recognising the need for housing initiatives for older people and it is positive to see that specific deadlines have been set,’ said Mr. Moynihan. ‘Every year Ireland has 20,000 additional older people and every year the housing situation grows in severity.’

The County and City Management Association said the provision of housing and the elimination of homelessness continues to be a top priority for local authorities. ‘ The exchequer support of €5.35 billion is particularly welcome,’ said a spokesman, adding that local authorities will have a central role in co-ordinating the planning and delivery of the necessary infrastructure for housing provision by a range of stakeholders.

The Construction Industry Federation director general Tom Parlon said the CIF believes the Action Plan measures with the most potential to increase supply include the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund of €200m, a new Housing Delivery Office in the Department of Housing Planning and Local Government and the proposed fast track planning process to An Bord Pleanala for developments of 100-plus houses.

The director of the Irish Home Builders Association Hubert Fitzpatrick said the key aim must be to improve affordability for buyers and renters and to reduce costs.

The Union of Students in Ireland welcomed steps to reduce the number of people in homelessness and called on Minister Coveney to work with USI to ensure that the student accommodation crisis is addressed as soon as possible.

However, the plan was described as ‘disappointing’ by the Irish Property Owners Association which represents landlords. ‘Yet again, we have a load of hot air presented to satisfy the critics,’ said chairman Stephen Faughnan. ‘It does nothing to protect the existing supply of private rental accommodation. The Government and Minister Coveney neeed to stop the exodus of property owners - over 41,000 have left the sector in the three years up to 2015’.

To be told by this report that you must sell your property with tenants in situ, is to say the least, the death knell for the investor small or large’, he said.

An Taisce said it is concerned about ‘unnecessary’ proposed changes to planning laws and procedures including the extension of planning permission for developments already granted an extension of time, direct application to An Bord Pleanala for schemes with 100 or more units and the failure to excluded Protected Structures from a planning exemption for the conversion of upper floors of commercial buildings for residential use.