Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD

Eoin Ó Broin TD: ‘As the housing crisis deepens the case for an alternative grows’

Darragh O’Brien TD has been Minister for Housing for two years. His record, like that of his predecessor Eoghan Murphy, can be judged by the numbers, writes Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD.

Credit: Sinn Féin

House prices are up 22 per cent and rents are up 15 per cent since the current government was formed. Homelessness has increased by 19 per cent in the same period.

In the last 12 months alone, child homelessness has increased by more than 40 per cent. For the first time since records began there are now more than 5,000 single adults in Department of Housing funded emergency accommodation.

Social housing delivery was 30 per cent behind target in 2020 and 2021. This was partly due to Covid-19 but also because of the unnecessary levels of

bureaucracy imposed by the Department of Housing on local authorities and approved housing bodies.

Meanwhile, not a single affordable home to buy was delivered in 2020 or 2021. A handful have been completed this so far in 2022, though at best only 450 will be delivered by year’s end.

Progress on affordable cost rental is not much better, with just 65 such units delivered in 2021 and a target of up to 700 for 2022. At the same time, the Land Development Agency will not deliver a single new build home until 2024 while its cost rental target, delivered via Project Tosaigh turnkeys, is unlikely to yield any units this year.

Housing for All critique

The hallmarks of Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien TD’s first two years in office have been big promises, lengthy delays, and poor delivery. It took 14 months for the Minister to publish his housing plan. Despite its length, it is light on detail and continues with the same failed policy consensus of the previous government. In fact, Housing for All’s social housing targets are lower than those of the previous governments. The affordable housing targets are even worse.

Contrary to the Minister’s claim that Government is investing €4 billion a year in public housing delivery, the actual level of direct capital investment in the delivery of social and affordable homes will only be €1.5 billion this year.

Simultaneously, direct subsidies to big landlords and developers continue unabated. Government has expanded the so-called Help to Buy scheme. They are also pressing ahead with the highly controversial Shared Equity Loan Scheme. Both policies have been widely criticised for, at best, locking in unaffordable prices and, at worst, pushing those prices even further upwards.

The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme will see €400 million of taxpayers’ money gifted to large developers to build apartments priced at €400,000 without any affordability dividend.

Large institutional investors continue to snap up entire developments, charging rip-off rents while avoiding any tax on their rent roll. Meanwhile, single property accidental and semiprofessional landlords are leaving the private rental sector in significant numbers, which in turn is driving up demand, rents, and levels of homelessness.

In response to the ever-deepening crisis, Minister O’Brien points to increases in planning permissions and commencements. He believes that as these properties come on stream supply will start to meet demand.

Unfortunately the targets underpinning his plan are simply too low and, in many cases, will deliver the wrong kinds of housing at the wrong price to meet the ever-growing levels of social and affordable housing need.

It is time for a radical change in direction. We need to abandon the failed policy of overreliance on the private sector to meet social and affordable housing demand. We need a plan that places the State, and in particular our local authorities, at the forefront of meeting this unmet need.

Sinn Féin alternative

In government, Sinn Féin would double direct capital investment in social and affordable housing. This would require voted capital expenditure of €3 billion annually. This level of expenditure would fund the delivery of 20,000 social and affordable homes per annum: Following a comprehensive review of the tax treatment of landlords, we would ensure that all landlords pay a fair rate of tax in a manner that would help stabilise the private rental sector. Sinn Féin believes that housing is a human right and that all sections of society should have access to appropriate and affordable homes. To this end, we would hold a referendum to enshrine the right to housing in the constitution. We would also ensure that those sections of our community who have also been at the margins of our housing system, such as travellers, people with disabilities, older people, and migrants, have their needs met. There is also a need for comprehensive reform of our planning and building control systems to promote better the rhetoric of state-led investment in public housing. That rhetoric must be matched with investment levels and public housing targets that can meet current and future need.

Minister Darragh O’Brien and the current Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and Green Party Government cannot and will not tackle the housing crisis. Indeed, they are the cause of that crisis.

Only a Sinn Féin-led government can deliver the radical change in housing policy that is required to deliver the tens of thousands of social and affordable homes that so many people desperately need and rightly deserve.

12,000 social and 8,000 affordable rental and purchase homes.

A Sinn Féin Government would also give renters a break with a three-year ban on rent increases for all existing and new tenancies while putting a month’s rent back in every renter’s pocket through a refundable tax credit.

We would also end the egregious tax reliefs for institutional landlords. placemaking and consumer protection.

Ever growing numbers of people, on low, modest, and above modest incomes, are unable to access secure, appropriate and affordable accommodation. This is a direct result of failure of successive government policies, including the current government.

It is not enough for government to use

Credit: Sinn Féin

“We need to abandon the failed policy of overreliance on the private sector to meet social and affordable housing demand.”

Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD

Proactively supporting the delivery of housing in Ireland

Irish Water’s Housing Programme Director Yvonne Harris.

Irish Water’s Housing Programme Director Yvonne Harris is making the delivery of housing in Ireland her top priority, leading a new housing programme for the water utility.

The challenges facing the Irish housing sector are well known. Lack of supply for both private and social housing, rising building costs and issues around planning are just some of the elements making it increasingly difficult for those looking to buy a home.

Sadly, too many people are experiencing difficulties in securing a home. Everybody should have access to good quality housing to purchase or rent at an affordable price and enjoy a high quality of life. That’s what I’d love for my children, they have both finished thirdlevel education now and it’s tough to see how much harder it is for their generation to get a foot on the property ladder.

Irish Water recognises we have a role to play and are committed to playing our part in the national drive to provide homes to people who need them by developing and prioritising the delivery of key water service infrastructure.

We are working in partnership with government departments, local authorities, and developers to support the increase of housing supply. We have significantly increased our ability to support the housing industry; our dedicated connections and developer services team offer a range of resources and support material for developers, extending a helping hand through the entire process from the housing development pre planning stage right through to construction and delivering safe drinking water to their homes.

I’m delighted to confirm that strong progress has been made, with 32,404 housing connections offered in 2021. In addition, having listened to industry and our partners, we have developed and published capacity registers on water.ie to give an indication of water and wastewater capacity at our treatment plants, making it easier for developers and local authorities to prioritise areas with services.

Building on progress

Irish Water has transformed the system for connecting to the water service infrastructure by bringing a unified national approach to what had been a fragmented county by county approach. Before this, there had been 57 different charging regimes and 900 methodologies, with different levels of service across the 31 local authorities. We have replaced this with a single set of processes and procedures that apply regardless of location, and a national connection charging policy with a set of standard charges approved by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). This provides more certainty and fairness for developers.

To ensure the homeowner receives a good quality service into the future, we moved to a standard Code of Practice and a single set of quality standards which presented a challenge initially, as everyone was accustomed to the old, local models. We are really grateful that industry has moved with Irish Water and supports the new ways of working. We have had very positive feedback from industry representatives as the new system has now bedded in.

Having inherited an old and ageing infrastructure, Irish Water is working closely with the CRU to facilitate proactive development of infrastructure to support housing. Under the Housing for All strategy, Irish Water has an obligation to support growth and we are delighted that we have agreed a mechanism with the CRU to allow us to identify potential areas of growth and invest in those areas.

One such example is Ballyvolane in Cork where there is significant pressure for development in the area, designated as an Urban Expansion Area (UEA) in the Cork County Development Plan. The UEA is in close proximity to the northern suburbs of Cork city. Irish Water identified a need for key strategic water and wastewater infrastructure to support social and economic growth and future development for new homes and businesses, enabling development of over 3,000 new houses. Following engagement with the CRU, we are investing €8.8 million in constructing a new wastewater pumping station, a foul sewer rising main and new watermains under the Irish Water Capital Investment Plan.

Working together

Over the past few months, I have met a number of developers and listened to their concerns. As the national water utility, we have an obligation to adhere to our regulatory model and to protect our assets and our existing customers. In line with those guiding principles, we continue to improve and review our policies and procedures.

Some improvements Irish Water has already made over the past 12 months include:

1. Publication of our capacity registers on the Developer section of our website will support all stakeholders. Please see www.water.ie/connections/develope r-services/capacity-registers

2. We have piloted our Self Lay in the

Public Road programme based on feedback from industry members, we have extended the criteria to allow a greater number of developments to participate on the programme. We continue to extend the scope of this programme and look forward to announcing further improvements. Please see www.water.ie/connections/develope r-services/self-lay-in-the-publicroad 3. We launched our Experience Based

Accreditation scheme on 24 June 2022, 18 months ahead of plan to allow contractors pre-register as an experience based accredited contractor for self-lay projects in the public road. Accreditation will support a more efficient process for self-lay applications.

4. We have made our submission to the CRU to support the First Mover

Initiative and look forward to the

CRU’s public consultation.

Irish Water is committed to open communication and working together to proactively support the delivery of housing in Ireland.

We are working to develop effective partnerships built on trust to meet the housing supply challenge and we are here to listen to our stakeholders and take action. We are proactively making this happen by hosting, presenting, or attending relevant conferences and events relating to housing to support our key stakeholders.

How does the connection application to Irish Water work?

Irish Water has recently hosted several webinars for industry players to explain the application process and to highlight issues that may cause delays in the process. The Irish Water connections and developer services team is very keen to support applicants as they move through the process. If you would like to join a webinar, please register your interest with housing@water.ie FAO: webinar interest. Here are some of the key steps applicants should be aware of: An application for connection to the water or wastewater infrastructure goes through a number of stages. Initially we recommend a pre-connection enquiry application being lodged with Irish Water to establish the feasibility of a connection to the Irish Water network. This is a free service which allows you to find out whether a connection to the public network is possible or not. The outcome of this pre-connection enquiry may influence your plans and portfolio management and supports your planning application.

The next stage is to make a connection application to Irish Water once you have secured planning permission. We will assess your application to confirm if it is still feasible and will calculate standard charges and issue the offer. Once the offer is accepted Irish Water will provide the connection to the water supply and wastewater services.

If there is a long delay between the preconnection enquiry and the connection application, the capacity available may have changed. We would encourage all developers to keep in contact with us to ensure that they are not working with out-of-date information.

For more information on the connection process please visit water.ie/connections/developerservices