Almost €4 billion for housing programmes over next five years

Local authorities are to receive almost €4 billion for housing programmes over the next five years, the Minister of State for housing, Mr Noel Ahern, announced yesterday.

The guaranteed funding, beginning this year with an allocation of €773 million, is for new social housing (council houses), affordable housing (below market-priced homes for first-time buyers), repairs to existing homes, Traveller accommodation and urban regeneration.

Announcing the funding, Mr Ahern said about 109,000 individuals were currently on the State's housing waiting lists and last year's allocation had removed about 12,500 people from that list.

However, Mr Ahern said he was "not optimistic" that the end of year figure would be shorter than the initial 109,000. This was, he said, due to the ever increasing number of people seeking to add their names to the list, whether to qualify for rent allowance or because they were seeking a local authority home.

Increasing house prices and difficulties for first-time buyers had added to the lists, he said. However, Mr Ahern rejected suggestions that this was an indication that State housing policy was failing. Rather, Mr Ahern said, the rising house prices were "a negative side effect of eight to 10 years of absolute economic boom".

Mr Ahern said the new five-year plan, which might rise "by a few per cent each year," would allow local authorities to make five-year action plans for social and affordable housing.

Included in this year's allocation of €773 million is:

r A local authority housing provision of €706 million;

r €40 million for provision of Traveller accommodation and support;

r Some €27 million for repairs to local authority homes.

Mr Ahern said some 300 new housing projects will start this year, while 360 projects are currently under way. A change in the way local authority estates were developed meant smaller estates with a greater mix of social and affordable houses would be developed, as it had been shown this resulted in few problems associated with social exclusion.

The highest grant announced yesterday went to Dublin City Council, which was awarded €108 million. The council has 430 houses under construction and 450 will be started this year.

A major private development on the city's "north fringe" will add about 200 units under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000.

Some €78.6 million went to local authorities in Cork; €64 million to South Dublin County Council; €30 million to authorities in Kerry; €30 million to authorities in Co Louth; and €6.6 million to Leitrim County Council.