State won’t meet social housing target

THE Government will not meet its targets for newbuild social housing this year, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has confirmed.

As part of Housing for All, the Government’s blueprint for ending the housing crisis, 9,000 social housing units were to be built this year.

However, figures provided to Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin by the Department of Housing show that just 1,765 (20%) new-build social homes had been built by the end of June.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio One yesterday, the Taoiseach said between 8,000 and 8,500 social housing units would be built this year.

That equates to a reduction of between 6% and 11% of the previous target. Mr Martin said the shortfall would be made up through acquisition and leasing of existing units. The Taoiseach pointed to inflation, which has driven up the cost of building, as a factor for the shortfall.

‘The increasing cost of building materials coming out of the Covid-19 scenario, when inflation went up, and the war in Ukraine, has been very significant in terms of the cost of building materials,’ he said.

The figures show that 639 of the units were delivered in the first quarter of the year and the remaining 1,126 in the second quarter.

Mr Ó Broin described the figures as ‘deeply concerning’ and predicted Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien may miss his social housing newbuild targets for the third year in a row.

‘Minister O’Brien’s missed targets are one of the main causes of rising levels of homelessness.

‘In 2020 and 2021, Government was thousands of social homes short of its target. While Minister O’Brien blamed Covid for the shortfall, other factors including Department of Housing bureaucracy were also at play.

Mr Martin said the State ‘is doing everything it possibly can’ but that he is frustrated about delivery times. Homeless figures are at a record high of 10,805.