‘Social Housing Federation welcomes new funding of €60 million for the purchase of housing and apartments for special needs groups’
The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) has welcomed the announcement today by Minister for Housing Michael Finneran of funding of €60 million for the purchase, by Approved Housing Bodies, of houses and apartments to provide social housing for people with special needs. It is expected that 431 homes will be provided to house groups such the homeless, older people and people with disabilities in 25 counties. However the Irish Council for Social Housing has warned that the necessary mechanisms must be in place to ensure the funding can be drawn down as quickly as possible.
“We welcome this capital injection into meeting the social housing needs of vulnerable households in communities all over Ireland. It is crucial that all necessary mechanisms are in place to facilitate the timely allocation of the funding to avoid any delays in meeting this need and to ensure that housing associations can proceed with the projects immediately” stated ICSH Executive Director Mr. Donal McManus.
Mr McManus added “the demand for social housing continues to rise and capital funding to purchase units is urgently required on an on-going basis. We would encourage the Government to build on this with further commitments of capital funding to enable housing associations to acquire units at a time when house prices are low and there is good value for money’’.
The initial call from the Department of the Environment for Approved Housing Bodies to identify suitable units under the capital assistance scheme attracted a huge response from the Voluntary Housing Sector.
Currently Housing Associations manage 25,000 units around the country for families and special needs groups. The successful projects include properties acquired as mixed funded schemes where private finance is to be used with state funding to develop new projects.
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For further information contact Donal McManus on 01 6618334.
