Just two social homes provided to Dublin City Council this year

Only two homes have been provided by developers this year for the 20,000 applicants on Dublin City Council’s housing waiting list, new figures show.

Under the planning acts developers are required to make 10 per cent of any scheme with 10 or more houses or apartments available to local authorities for use as social housing.

The scheme, known as Part V in reference to that section of the planning legislation, is a “critical factor” in the supply of 47,000 social housing units by 2021, according to the Government’s Rebuilding Ireland housing action plan.

Last year just 37 homes were provided nationally through the Part V scheme. More than two-thirds, 25, were built in Dublin city.

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The number of social homes provided nationally through the scheme so far this year is not yet available, However, figures to be presented to councillors this week show that just two apartments, and no houses, have been supplied under Part V agreements .

Council deputy chief executive and head of housing Brendan Kenny said the poor numbers reflected the low level of general residential construction in the city.

“The delivery of Part V in the city has been very, very slow but it is indicative of the lack of residential development in the city – in particular the lack of developments of significant scale.”

Building in Dublin city

Statistics from the Department of Housing, which are only available for the first two months of this year, show that 130 homes were completed in Dublin city. Of these, 23 were one-off houses, 38 were in housing estates and 69 were apartments.

Developers who keep their schemes below 10 homes do not have to provide any social housing. While a number of small developments have been completed, only one scheme of more than 20 apartments was finished, at Alexandra Walk off Whitefriar Street in the southwest inner city, which resulted in both the Part V homes the council has secured this year.

“It’s not that nothing is being built in the city, but they’ve either been small or they’ve been student complexes. The student apartments are flying along in contrast with the general residential, but student housing doesn’t qualify for Part V.”

Mr Kenny said he expected a pick-up in the number of units secured by the end of this year, and that the number would be significantly higher next year.

“There are a lot more coming down the pipeline, and there are a lot of planning permissions waiting to be used out there, which potentially would see a lot of units coming in to us, so I do think it will make a significant contribution in the years to come.”

The council expects to have secured 36 Part V homes by the end of this year and 84 next year, with 425 expected by 2020. Planning applications currently being processed would indicate the potential for a further 324, the council said.