The implementation of the Social Housing Strategy is being hampered by significant infrastructural issues, which are not being dealt with quickly enough. That’s according to Dr. Donal McManus, CEO of the Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH), who was speaking today (30.11.15) at the organisation’s AGM.
Dr. McManus outlined three critical issues – from the perspective of housing associations – that need to be addressed: lack of sites for development; the urgent need for coordination of funding schemes for social housing; and the absence of development programmes for housing associations.
“The most serious obstacle hampering implementation of the Social Housing Strategy is the lack of a significant level of sites being made available to housing associations,” he said.
“There are over 800 sites in public ownership that could be assessed for social housing and transferred from local authorities to housing associations. Housing associations could then access private finance to deliver much-needed homes. However, this is not happening due to unnecessary infrastructural obstacles and delays.
“Immediate action is required on this to enable housing associations to initiate planning and construction, and to play their part in meeting the targets set out by Government in the Social Housing Strategy.
“We are proposing an operational land supply programme to assemble suitable sites for social housing, including from State sources such as the Land Aggregation Schemes and NAMA. In addition, we would like to see inventories of State lands from public bodies, as well as plans detailing how these will be used to provide social housing.”
The ICSH is also calling for the creation of a central unit in the Department of the Environment to assist with better coordination for housing associations.
“The lack of central coordination for the delivery of social housing by housing associations is a significant structural barrier,” said Donal McManus. “Previously, when our sector was asked to increase its scale under the National Development Plan, a central unit was established in the Department of the Environment to facilitate this – and this worked well. This has now been disbanded, leaving housing associations with no central coordination and work falling across different units and three Departmental locations.
“A planned development programme for housing associations for the delivery of new social housing is a key requirement if the Social Housing Strategy is to succeed. A much more active construction sector is also an important factor for scaling up the delivery of social housing.”
Contribution of Housing Associations to Tackling the Housing Crisis
At today’s event, the ICSH acknowledged the significant work being done by non-profit housing associations in response to the unprecedented demand for social housing and increased levels of homelessness.
“Our members nationwide are developing innovative delivery solutions and increasing capacity across the sector in response to the current housing crisis,” said Dr. McManus. “The Social Housing Strategy underpins their work, and that is why we need to ensure any obstacles to its implementation are removed.
“Housing associations provided over 1,500 homes for families on housing waiting lists last year, and responded to the acute need for additional homes by accessing up to €50 million of private finance. The ICSH recently undertook a survey of members which indicated that a further 3,232 homes could be delivered by 2017.”
In his address at the AGM, Dr. McManus emphasised the ICSH’s desire to continue to work in partnership with local authorities to find shared solutions to people’s housing needs.
ENDS
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About the ICSH
- The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) is the national federation for non-profit housing associations, representing approximately 270 members that provide social housing. The sector manages over 30,000 homes for families on a low income, older people, people with disabilities and homeless households.
- Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) – also known as housing associations – are non-profit organisations that provide and manage good-quality housing at affordable rents for households in housing need.
- Further information is available at www.icsh.ie, or by following the ICSH on Twitter, @icsh_ie.
