1. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the targets for the delivery of cost rental and affordable purchase homes by local authorities, approved housing bodies and the Land Development Agency under the Government's new housing plan from 2025 to 2030. [66119/25]
Sentiment score: 0.14
There were many omissions in the Minister's ill-fated housing plan launched only a matter of weeks ago but one that was particularly astonishing is the removal of targets, either across the life cycle of the plan or, indeed, on an annual basis, for cost-rental and affordable purchase homes delivered by local authorities, approved housing bodies, AHBs, and the Land Development Agency, LDA. Can the Minister explain why these targets that were in his predecessor's plan were removed and does that mean he has abandoned targets or he is simply not willing to share them with us?
Sentiment score: 0.01
I would like the House to note that the Minister, of course, completely avoided the question and instead gave what can only be described as an Orwellian response to a simple question. There is no new starter home programme. What the Government has done is it has taken a bunch of schemes that existed under the previous Government's plan and, indeed, its predecessor, it has bundled them all up and it has added them into a global figure. The reason it is important, in particular, that there are targets for the delivery of cost rental and affordable purchase is the Minister funds them. He sets the targets for local authorities, AHBs and the LDA, directly and indirectly, to deliver those homes. Of course, as we know, last year the cost-rental targets were missed by a factor of 15% and the Minister's affordable purchase target was missed by a staggering 61%. On top of that, of course, increasingly these homes are not affordable. Right across Dublin, for example, the full price of a so-called "affordable home" delivered under the Minister's affordable purchase scheme, if you want to own the home outright, is up to €500,000. In nobody's calculations is that affordable. Similarly, we are now seeing cost rents coming in as high as €19,000 a month for a three-bedroom house, and €17,000 a month for a two-bedroom unit. A growing number of people who are not eligible for social housing are excluded from the Minister's schemes. Can I ask again why he has not included a specific target for cost rental and affordable purchase? Has he ditched the target or is he just hiding it from us?
Sentiment score: -0.06
If that is the case, why would the Minister not say he has a target for new-build social homes? Again, this is a scheme that he funds and a scheme that local authorities and approved housing bodies deliver, some in conjunction with the Land Development Agency. It makes no sense to say that we do not need targets for cost rental and affordable purchase but we do for social housing. Again, it is a very simple question. There were clear targets for next year, some of which the Minister shared with us in the committee only a matter of months ago. My question, which the Minister has not answered, is very simple. Why is there no target for cost rental over the six years? Why is there no target for affordable purchase over the six years? Why is the Minister not accepting that in addition to not producing enough of these homes, increasingly they are unaffordable? Targets are important. They are particularly important for Government schemes funded by the Minister's Department. It allows him to plan, to programme and to be held to account. It sounds like the Minister has effectively abandoned the very meagre targets for cost rental and affordable purchase schemes that his predecessor had in his plan because this Minister knows that cannot be met, and rather than be embarrassed by his failure, he is simply ditching the targets altogether. Frankly, that is not good enough.
Sentiment score: -0.03
Yes, since 2016. Confidence and supply.
Sentiment score: 0.46
3. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason no analysis was conducted by his Department on the impact of his proposed changes to rent pressure zones on rents in the private rental sector. [66121/25]
Sentiment score: -0.18
The Minister has published legislation that is going to make the most profound changes to the regulation of rents in the private rental sector in over a decade. From March of next year, tens of thousands of renters, progressively, quarter on quarter, are going to lose the meagre protections of the rent pressure zones and over time see their rents reset to market rents. Astonishingly, the Minister's Department conducted no analysis of the impacts of these changes on the rents that renters actually pay. Why did he not conduct that analysis and how can he stand over a Bill when even he does not know the full impact it will have on hard-pressed renters paying rip-off rents?
Sentiment score: -0.25
The House should note for the second time tonight that the Minister has studiously avoided the question. What do we know about tenancies? The Residential Tenancies Board tells us that the average length of a tenancy is three and a half years long. In the past 12 months, 70,000 fresh first-time tenancies were created. That is 28% of the total number of private rental tenancies. If those trends continue - trends that have been in train for a number of years - then within four years, the overwhelming majority of renters will be captured by this legislation. Many tens of thousands of them will have their rents reset to market rent at the start and all of them will have the market rent reset at the end of six years. I accept there is a viability problem. I accept there is a lack of investment, particularly in social, cost-rental and affordable for purchase homes. However, renters should not be the ones to pay the bill. What the Minister is proposing, in addition to inadequate and possibly illegal apartment design standards for smaller and darker apartments and huge VAT reductions for developers who are building apartments that are already viable, is to essentially allow landlords to reset the rent to almost double what it is for many tenants. He has not even done an analysis. Why not and why is he making renters pay for viability challenges the Minister and his failing housing policy created in the first place?
Sentiment score: -0.04
With the greatest of respect, security of tenure is no use if you simply cannot afford the rent. The family homelessness crisis started in 2014, not because landlords were selling but because landlords were hitting tenants with double digit rent increases. Over the space of three to four years, the number of children in homelessness went from 800 to over 3,000. As for the so-called security of tenure measures, the Minister is going to create three different types of security of tenure; for existing tenants in existing tenancies, for new tenancies in existing properties of small landlords and new tenancies in properties of large landlords. That is a level of complexity that will be impossible to understand and virtually impossible to enforce. The only reason he has done this is to try to hide behind that while he guts the rent pressure zones and forces renters to pay levels of rent that are simply unacceptable. The Minister has no idea if notices of termination will increase or decrease. Neither he nor his Department have done any analysis on the impact on rents or security of tenure. Landlords are unhappy. Tenants are unhappy. This will not work and who is going to pay the price? Renters. Because Fianna Fáil does not give a damn about them.
Sentiment score: 0.02
Cost-rental supply, social supply, affordable purchase supply.
Sentiment score: 0.00
It is not apartments costing €3,000 per month. Get your head out of the sand.
Sentiment score: 0.00
Utter nonsense.
Sentiment score: -0.40
How will apartments for €3,000 per month lower homelessness and lower prices?
Sentiment score: -0.53
Affordable homes are needed and the Minister is not delivering them.
Sentiment score: 0.00
Sit down, you are embarrassing yourself at this stage, really.
Sentiment score: -0.38
Homelessness will increase month on month as a result of these failed policies.
Sentiment score: -0.25
I do not want to hear it, but I would like an answer to the question that you will not answer, repeatedly, over and over.
Sentiment score: 0.48
People can see your housing policy failures writ large.
Sentiment score: -0.46
Homeless figures are out on Friday. Are they going to be down? No, they will not.
Sentiment score: -0.10
I apologise.
Sentiment score: 0.38
I do not like homelessness rising and that is your responsibility.
Sentiment score: -0.28
I do not like rents and house prices rising and that is your responsibility. That is what I do not like, Minister, not your refusal to answer questions.
Sentiment score: -0.28
I apologise.
Sentiment score: 0.38