The Government today announced a new housing plan to tackle the crisis.
Wait, I thought we already had a housing plan?
Yes, in 2021, the then government published Housing for All – A new Housing Plan for Ireland. It envisaged an average of 33,000 new homes each year to 2030.
The new plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, envisages 300,000 new homes in the period to 2030, with no specified annual target. Last year, according to the Central Statistics Office, there were 30,330 new dwellings completed. So the new plan aspires towards an approximate doubling of output.
How does Government envisage that happening?
By everyone pulling together. Two Cabinet subcommittees – one on housing and one on infrastructure – are to keep an eye out for slackers. The idea is that Ireland Inc will “activate supply” so that the construction sector can build the necessary houses and apartments. This will involve: more land zoning, the development of publicly-financed infrastructure (water, electricity grid, transport), more serviced land, attracting global investment, putting pressure on local authorities, developing the capacity of the construction sector (promoting skills training and the increased use of Modern Methods of Construction), removing “barriers” – delays in the planning system and too much use of judicial reviews – and using the tax system to make it easier for developers to deliver affordable housing.
RM Block
Are we not doing most of those things already?
One way of interpreting the plan is as a renewed expression of determination and a recognition that greater ambition is required.
The two subcommittees – chaired by Taoiseach Micheál Martin – are to keep an eye on the various bodies that are charged with driving the policies that will “activate supply”.
The State has experienced the fastest rate of population growth in its modern history, Minister for Housing James Browne says in the plan’s foreword, and housing supply has lagged. Now the State is “throwing everything we have” at the resultant crisis.
Is there any reality to the delivery targets?
The easy answer is, come back to me in 2029. The 300,000 figure is described as “not an upper limit – but a realistic projection of what’s achievable by getting public and private sector partners working effectively together.”
How about some specifics?
The plan envisages the regeneration of derelict buildings to create 20,000 homes. An additional 72,000 social homes by 2030 are also planned, with local authorities being pressed to develop larger schemes (75 per cent of new build schemes are for 20 homes or less). Other measures are: an extra 1,000 student accommodation beds; a €12.2 billion allocation to the water sector; and €3.5 billion in equity funding for grid infrastructure. Trade shows to encourage international investment in residential developments in the State are also included in the plan (building 300,000 homes will cost more than €150 billion, according to a back-of-the-envelope calculation by The Irish Times) along with schemes to help small and medium-sized builders scale up their businesses.
What about the Housing Tzar?
The Housing Activation Office, established in April, will be “critical to accelerating homebuilding by removing infrastructure delays”, according to the plan. Significant progress has been made on establishing the office, and the appointment of someone to head the office is “being progressed”. The Government advertised the job late last month, after controversy earlier in the year about a prospective appointee being paid a salary of more than €400,000. The job now carries a salary of €217,087.
What about the rental market?
The plan is divided into two “pillars”, with each comprising different elements. The first, Activating Supply, is about zoned, serviced land supply, facilitating investment, infrastructure development, promoting modern construction methods and skills, and targeting dereliction and vacancy. The second, Supporting People, includes measures aimed at the rental market.
Such as?
Improved rent controls, increased security of tenure, support for the Residential Tenancies Board. However, it also includes establishing a legal and policy framework that supports increased investment in the private rental sector with a view, over time, to increasing supply and thereby reducing market rents. The Government aims to support domestic and international investment in the delivery of new rental properties.
Is the Supporting People pillar all about the rental sector?
Not at all. The pillar encompasses a range of policies aimed at the homeless, combating family and youth homelessness, delivering housing for elderly people, disabled people, and providing more social homes, including starter homes for buyers. This pillar also includes policies for villages, towns and cities, including Dublin city, aimed at making them more attractive places to live.
Is it a plan or a list of policies?
It’s a bit of both. All the policies that can be connected to the housing emergency appear to be covered. Since the launch of Housing for All four years ago, 137,000 homes have been built, but demand continues to grow and the scale of need has exceeded earlier projections. Hence, the new plan.
So, various bodies charged with delivery can expect pressure?
“I will call out where work is not happening,” says Browne in his forward. “I will not accept a lack of ambition or stasis in decision making in get things moving.”
We’ll see.
