Laois Independent TD Brian Stanley has told the Minister for Local Government James Browne that all key towns in Laois need Cost Rental Housing.
Speaking in the Dáil last week, Deputy Stanley highlighted the huge amount of money that’s been spent on rental and leasing supports for private rented accommodation.
“We are in the middle of a housing crisis like we have never seen before,” he said.
“We really need to try to deal with it. The cost and speed of delivery are key issues, along with the need for infrastructure. Water, electricity and wastewater capacity are very important.
“The way local authority housing was built quickly in the past is that we used universal designs, plans and standards. Departmental officials told me previously that we are moving towards having universal design and standards for interiors, but I am talking about the exact same plan being used for various family sizes and settings.
“The plan for a one-bed or two-bed maisonette for a pensioner or disabled person, again, could be the same throughout the country, and likewise with a three-bed or four-bed house.
“I am not suggesting that we drop the standard of accommodation. This is not about cutting corners. This is about simply cutting out the nonsense and the cost.
“At the moment, it costs local authorities between 11% and 15% to design plans for each housing estate or housing development that is built. They start with a blank canvas … we must do that to speed up delivery and, crucially, to reduce costs.
“We cannot reduce costs unless we mass produce. Do people around the country really care if the house they are living in might look like one that someone else in Donegal is living in? That is crucial to speeding up delivery.
“If we move to the budget for a moment, I have a copy of the document the Minister read out where he outlined that more than €9 billion has been allocated to housing. I welcome that. I wish there was more in it, but it is good to have that much in it. Again, the point is the value that we are getting from it.
“I will highlight one point to the Minister of State. According to the Minister, some €2 billion is for RAS, housing rental assistance and leasing. That is a huge sum of money.
“I understand why there is a short term need for it. We brought in rent supplements 20 years ago as a short-term measure but now it has become the mainstay of providing housing for 100,000 households.
“It is dead money that is going down the drain every year. We get short-term housing for it but after paying out money for 50 years the State will not have any tangible asset at the end of it.
“I also want to highlight to the Minister of State that out of the €9 billion plus for housing, less than one third is going to local authorities to either build or buy. That is according to the Minister’s speech.
“That shows the shift. More than two thirds of the money we are putting into social and affordable housing is going somewhere else instead of it being the main focus of where it should go.
“We must change the dial and get the emphasis on getting houses in place. This year, for example, Laois County Council has a spend of €491,000 for HAP alone.
“If we take leasing and other measures, we are looking at €14 million out of a budget of around €38 million for housing almost half the budget is going on temporary payments to landlords and various other outfits for temporary rental and leasing. That is the effect that it is having.”
Deputy Stanley also brought up cost rental, saying that there was a only a ‘trickle’ of such units outside Dublin. He argued that these are needed by people in their 50s and 60s.
“The overall issue I am highlighting here is that there is a cohort of people who will not get a loan anywhere because of their age profile and limited income. We need cost-rental homes for those people. In some cases, there are single people and in other cases there are families involved.
“We need cost rental in towns like Rathdowney, Mountrath, Abbeyleix, Graiguecullen, Portarlington, Stradbally and Mountmellick, not just in Portlaoise.
“A small few cost-rental units are planned for Portlaoise. They are welcome, but we need more cost-rental units and more affordable-purchase units. We must get back to the idea of allowing people to buy their own home.”
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