We’ve learned our lesson from the mistakes of the past, says boss of Housing Agency
(Who still backs apartment scheme that has just 425 of 5,000 units on track for 2026)
THE Housing Agency chief progressing the Government’s ‘big ideas’ to unlock affordable supply says he sees the body as the lubricant needed to finally end the housing crisis.
Chief executive Bob Jordan has rejected that the Govermnent’s ‘crucial’ apartment-building scheme is ‘doomed’ after just 425 units out of a target of 5,000 look set to be built by 2026.
Mr Jordan, who has worked in the charity and public sector in housing for more than 20 years, said the State will not repeat the mistakes of the past.
Mr Jordan refused to parrot the Government line that the State is ‘turning a corner’ on housing, calling it ‘a bit of a hackneyed phrase’, but said: ‘We can see the progress that’s being made yearon-year for Housing For All. But obviously, there’s more to be done. We can see the progress that’s happening for individuals, and communities. But obviously everybody needs to feel that across Ireland, and I suppose we still have a way to go on that.’
When asked if the country would ever make the same mistakes around housing infrastructure given the crisis now, Mr Jordan said: ‘We didn’t have the ability to make those decisions back then. But I would like to think that going forward, we’ve learned that lesson.’
Mr Jordan said during the crash when the IMF helped bail the country out, there was no capital available for home building.
‘What we’ve learned is that the capital investment in housing is really important. Where we have the ability to spend capital that we would do that, so that the shock would be far less to people going forward.’
The Housing Agency, set up in 2012, has grown from just 28 staff to 159 at the end of last year.
‘I’d like to think that we’re kind of the 3-IN-ONE oil that kind of helps the housing system to keep moving at times,’ he said.
He said they are a ‘very important intermediary’ between the Department of Housing, 31 local authorities, and 450 Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) – 30 of which they engage with regularly – as well as the private sector.
Mr Jordan said one of the bigger initiatives in the Government’s plan is embedding a portion of affordable housing in the housing system.
‘We’ve been involved in one way or another in all of the affordable housing schemes that have been delivered by Government,’ he said. ‘We hadn’t produced affordable homes for quite a long period of time, the big idea under Housing For All is to get that segment of the market moving.’
Mr Jordan told the Irish Daily Mail the housing output for 2023 ‘really proves that all of these schemes do add up to something, which is more homes for people – that’s really important’.
Under Housing For All last year, 32,695 new homes were completed – the largest annual delivery of new homes in 15 years and exceeding the 29,000 2023 target.
The Government confirmed it will be revising housing targets upwards as the Construction Industry Federation has said it has the capacity to build 60,000 a year and the Housing Commission is expected to recommend house-building targets are brought up to that level.
When asked if he thinks current housing targets are too low, Mr Jordan said: ‘We’re currently working to the Housing For All targets and the Government said it is going to revise those, so we’re just waiting for those targets to come out.’
Mr Jordan spent a decade as chief executive of housing charity Threshold and worked as an advisor to Simon Coveney when he was housing minister.
He rejected that the Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme is ‘doomed’ after only 425 units were secured after two callouts for interest from developers. With a building lead-in time of around two years for apartments, there are doubts over whether the scheme can deliver the targeted 5,000 apartments by 2026.
He said: ‘It’s certainly far from doomed. I think it’s making a huge contribution and the numbers will increase.’ He said the scheme is in a ‘ramping up’ phase. He said the low take-up so far is because confidence in the apartment purchasing market is not there because the product has not been there, calling it ‘a chicken and egg situation’.
The scheme was set up to unlock apartment planning permissions in urban centres granted but abandoned by the developer due to viability issues, so the Government is bridging the gap with a subsidy. Mr Jordan is concerned about the market moving towards rental, with less homes to buy for owners occupiers.
He said that is the purpose of having the Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme – and the scheme will be re-opened. There has also been criticism of the Cost Rental Tenant In Situ scheme, introduced last April, to stop people being evicted when a landlord decides to sell up.
The scheme applies to those in receipt of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) or other social housing support. The local authority passes the case to the Housing Agency who buy the home and pass it on to an AHB – but this transition has not yet been worked out. Mr Jordan said around 80 properties under the scheme have had bids accepted and 20 houses have been bought but have not been passed on to AHBs so the tenants can be charged a lower cost rental rate.
On why the agency cannot just charge the tenants the cost rental price, which is 25% less than market rents, he said the agency’s role is to ‘simply buy the property, and charge people the current rent’, adding: ‘We’re not the cost rental delivery agency. We’re just acquiring the properties so they can be transferred. The AHB sector – they’re professional landlords.’ He said the Housing Department has to develop the transitional arrangements, and discussions have begun with AHBs over this.