KENNY WELCOMES LAUNCH OF MASSIVE SOCIAL HOUSING INVESTMENT WORTH €3.8BN

Posted on November 26, 2014 6:20 PM   |   Permanent Link   

Dublin Bay North Labour TD Sean Kenny has welcomed the launch today of the massive public investment in social housing that was announced as part of the recent Budget for 2015.

"In committing to provide 35,000 new social housing units at a cost of €3.8bn, the Strategy will move the State back to having a central role in how social housing is provided. The State will engage directly in building social housing by getting local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies to take a key role in construction of good quality, safe and secure housing that is suited to the needs of the people in each household and at a price that is affordable and in a sustainable community. The State will also work in partnership with public, voluntary and private housing providers in terms of how social housing is funded."

"Part of the Strategy is aimed at dealing with the immediate shortage in housing supply that will deal with the housing list by 2020. It is intended to deal with the entirety of the housing list - 90,000 households by this time. There are two phases here - the first is to target the construction of 18,000 additional housing units and 32,000 HAP/RAS units by end of 2017 and the second phase is to target the construction of 17,000 additional housing units and 43,000 HAP/RAS units by end of 2020."

"The other part of the Strategy involves ensuring that social housing supports will be able to meet the needs that people will have, both now and as those needs change. Dfferential rents will be reformed, which will help people move on from social housing as their circumstances improve; There will also be the development of a Housing Passport mechanism to allow greater mobility of social housing tenants between local authorities in order to access employment opportunities, something which I consider to be very important for people looking for work and to get on with life."

"I also very much welcome the Dublin social housing delivery task force to respond to the particular needs in the Dublin area, and we can see how urgent this matter is by looking at the number of families that live in hotels at present, which is a situation that quite simply cannot and will not be tolerated. That is the point of the Social Housing Strategy - to deal with the issues in society around social housing."

"I think it is very important that the Social Housing Strategy is designed specifically to be reviewed and monitored on a continuous basis whihc will ensure that policies and can be amended and changed to ensure that what is an ambitious programme of work can be examined and checked to make sure the aims and objectives of the Social Housing Strategy best serve the needs of the Irish people."