Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE GOVERNMENT’S NEW housing plan is here – and there’s been has a fairly mixed reaction from industry experts and NGOs.
Construction industry groups and auctioneers were broadly positive about the plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, which promises 300,000 homes by 2030.
However, charities working with people who are homeless said details need to be clarified when the proposals become law. There are a record number of homeless people in Ireland.
The government is moving away from setting yearly housing targets with its new plan – the fourth in 12 years.
Orla Hegarty, an architect and assistant professor at UCD’s School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, told The Journal the plan is not much of a departure from past efforts to tackle the housing crisis. This was very much the criticism voiced by opposition politicians today too.
Hegarty said the tone from the government was moving “further along the stages of grief from denial and bargaining to depression and perhaps even some acceptance, which is a good thing”.
Hegarty was not alone in noting the lack of new measures and ideas in the plan. It was noted by industry actors and charities alike.
Industry groups were positive about a number of proposals, while noting that some issues remain as obstacles to increasing housing supply.
Conor O’Connell of the Construction Industry Federation welcomed the plan’s emphasis on ensuring a sufficient supply of zoned and serviced land, “which will be critical to future housing supply and the success of the plan”.
“The Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund of €1bn to invest in zoned land should result in removing many of the blockages that builders are currently experiencing,” he said.
He also said it was “critical” that the government follows through on the plan’s commitment to reform of the Judicial Review Process and also called for changes to the Planning and Development Act “to reduce the objections to planning at any stage by anybody in any location”.
The CEO of the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers, Genevieve McGuirk, said it was “encouraging to see a more whole-of-government approach”.
However, she also noted that some “significant issues” remain, including the powers invested in the new Housing Activation Office.
She said the advertisement for the head of office (the “housing tsar”, as the role has become known) shows it is being pitched at the level of Deputy Secretary General within the Department of Housing, which is “a worry”.
“This is of lesser power than that recommended by the Housing Commission, it lacks legislative underpinning.”
Hegarty welcomed the proposals to directly fund local authorities to build homes without Department of Housing approval, and to fund SME builders to build on serviced sites in towns and villages.
“The solution to growing construction capacity and affordability is to start local, introduce opportunities for new entrants, promote innovation and drive competition.”
Anne-Marie O’Reilly of the homelessness prevention organisation Threshold told RTÉ’s Drivetime that the plan has some positive measures when it comes to protecting renters, but that the details still need to be hammered out in the legislative process.
“We do have some concerns about the proposal to allow market rent resets between tenancies. Again, that’s going to be in the legislation that we’re yet to see, but that could result in rapidly increasing rates, so that will really need to be carefully considered by the government,” O’Reilly said.
Asked if there was much hope, based on the details of the plan, that rents may come down, O’Reilly said: “Not in the immediate.”
“That is definitely more of a medium, long-term action that will only happen through a significant increase in housing provision overall, but in particular, a significant increase in social and cost rental and that is recognised in the report.
“But I’m not sure if that can be achieved with the targets that are set out.”
David Carroll, CEO of Depaul, said the charity was “grateful” to see the proposal to spend more than €100m next year on buying second-hand homes for people on the housing list.
However, he added that he would like to see specific targets for the reduction of homelessness “as evidence of this ambition and to guide delivery of this”.
The CEO of Dublin Simon Community, Catherine Kennedy, welcomed “the increased ambition in social and affordable housing output targets”.
She also said that “a holistic homeless implementation plan” must now be developed based on the contents of the plan.
“Measures and incentives related to homelessness announced, including the need for a prevention framework, the review of Housing Assistance Payment scheme and capital investment in emergency accommodation are required in parallel to substantial housing delivery.”
Mel Reynolds, an architect and housing policy analyst, told The Journal that specific mention of homelessness “is welcome, but it would be good to see concrete proposals and how these are to be implemented, and when, like proper funding for the tenant in situ scheme”.
The plan falls short in a number of areas, according to some assessments.
Architect Ali Grehan said the key question for her is ‘how’.
She said: “We are all aware of what needs to be done and the plan articulates this well, but in what way will this plan achieve its objectives and how is it different to previous plan attempts?
“For example, how does the plan break through the level of bureaucracy and multiplicity of players now baked into housing delivery? How does the plan improve how the system works? This is not yet clear to me; I would have liked it spelt out.”
She also said that without specific targets, ”it is difficult to see how the plan’s ambitions to meet different demographic needs can be measured over the lifetime of the plan and that even if the 300,000 target is met, that the homes are the right homes in the right place”.
The Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) denounced the plan’s lack of specific mandates when it comes to accessibility for new housing projects – while making specific provisions for pets.
“It is astonishing that in the 21st century, the basic human right to accessible housing is still an afterthought, while pet provisions are being written into policy,” said Rosaleen Lally, National Access Programme Manager for Irish Wheelchair Association.
“This is not about pitting pet owners against disabled people; it is about fundamental equality. Every new housing development should have a mandatory percentage of fully accessible units, not just an ‘optional extra’.”
Another oversight, according to Orla Hegarty, is the fact that the plan does not mention children and family homes except in relation to emergency accommodation.
“Recent policy has all been towards prioritising small (and high price) rental apartments for workers, rather than affordable homes for families to purchase in sustainable locations,” she said.
Hegarty added that the inclusion of the term “starter homes” suggests they will be “inadequate homes, for the short term, which is not the way to invest sustainably in infrastructure or new communities”.
She also said that the plan’s proposals do not align with climate targets.
“In relation to climate, the plan continues as before, being directly at odds with Ireland’s commitments,” she said, pointing specifically to a Climate Change Advisory Council warning that it is vital to have a renewed focus on, and significantly more ambitious and specific targets for denser, less dispersed development.
“Climate action is non-negotiable,” Hegarty said.
“Pushing families further into sprawl with car-commuting, and pushing city dwellers into carbon-intense shoeboxes cannot be justified.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say