Access to safe and secure housing is a major issue in Ireland right now and has been for the last 20 years. Long social housing waiting lists and the rise in homelessness in recent years highlight the scale of the housing crisis in modern Ireland.
“Housing for All”
In June, Darragh O’Brien was appointed the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and his political party Fianna Fail have set a target of delivering 50,000 Social and Affordable homes during the life of the current government. The coalition government’s current mission is “Housing for All”.
As part of its green agenda, the current Government has also committed to delivering energy efficient homes with higher BER ratings.
The Scale of the Crisis
In the Summary of Social Housing Assessments 2019 report issued in December 2019 it sets out that there were 68,693 qualified households on the Local Authority waiting lists.
27% of households on this list have been waiting 7 years or more to be housed which shows the extent of this issue and the low number of homes delivered in recent years. 43% of the households on the list are in Dublin, in line with the percentage of the Irish population who live in Dublin. However, there is a need for social homes in every county in Ireland.
Unfortunately, with Covid-19 causing a significant rise in unemployment levels the numbers on the housing waiting list in December 2020 will likely be higher than in 2019.
Building Collapse
The government wishes to build more new homes. Since 2008, Ireland has decreased its number of new homes built annually from a high of over 90,000 per year to a target of 22,000 in 2020. Due to the impact of Covid-19 it is estimated that c. 15,000 new homes will be built in 2020. Hence, solving the housing crisis in the near term will require a range of solutions.
The Need for Public and Private Collaboration
The current Government wish to source homes from a number of avenues, including:
1) New Developments: a policy whereby 10% of new developments are given to Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies for social housing. Based on the expected new build figures, this is on target to deliver 1,500 – 2,500 homes per year.
2) Local Authorities building new homes on Irish Government owned land: while this is a good solution and in time could deliver many homes, it faces some real challenges.
3) Private Sector Leasing: a third option is for the private sector to upgrade properties in the current housing stock and deliver them to the Local Authorities on a long lease. This option will deliver homes faster than option one and two above which is a consideration in the context of the immediacy of the housing need.
Given the scale of the current housing crisis, the government will be required to employ all of these solutions as part of their overall plan. Each will require some degree of public private partnership. In the case of long-term leasing, this partnership is over 25 years and so the quality of partners will be fundamental to local authorities achieving their housing objectives.
ESG Integration
We believe that the integration of ESG into decision making frameworks, public and private, can ensure accountability when it comes to social housing investment.
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For more information on what Irish Homes are doing to tackle this social challenge visit their website: www.IrishHomes.ie
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