Council estates to be phased out under housing plan

A Government plan to be published today will propose the building of social housing on a scale not seen in decades.

Minister for Housing Simon Coveney will set out the Government's Action Plan for Housing, its flagship policy document to tackle the housing crisis, which is expected to involve the allocation of a further €2 billion for social housing, in addition to €3.8 billion already committed by the last government.

The target for social housing units will be increased from the building of 35,000 by 2021 to a target of between 45,000 and 50,000, the figure recently recommended by the Oireachtas committee on housing.

Social house building on this scale has not been undertaken in decades, with a previous reliance by councils on developers providing a portion of homes for social and affordable homes.

The plan will contain a push towards so-called “mixed tenure” developments in an effort to ensure that the vast majority of State-owned lands are not used for one type of housing.

Developments

This will prevent estates and developments that are comprised entirely of council homes, as happened in previous decades.

For large-scale developments, councils will be required to ensure any State land that becomes available will be used for a mix of private, rental, affordable and local authority homes. This will vary by area .

All State-owned lands, such as bus depots and Iarnród Éireann properties, will be assessed for their potential for house building, according to an early draft of the plan.

It is also expected to propose that €200 million remaining from the sale of Board Gáis, be made available to local authorities to pay off debts on land intended for social housing.

The plan will say all available State lands, on which imminent important infrastructural developments are not yet planned, should be put forward for housing where appropriate.

Mr Coveney is also expected to push Eurostat, the EU statistics agency, for clarity on whether social housing developments can be considered off balance sheet.