eolas Housing report Issue 54 Nov/Dec 2022

Housing report

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

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Darragh O’Brien TD: Housing priorities

Fourteen months on from the launch of Housing for All, what are your current priorities as Minister for Housing?

My priority is to continue delivering on Housing for All. I am a firm believer in homeownership, and Housing for All is laying the foundations for home ownership for a generation. For the plan to succeed, Housing for All’s 213 actions need to be implemented and these include new measures to support home ownership, new initiatives to tackle homelessness, reforms to overhaul our planning process and steps to bolster our local authority capacity to deliver homes. The more than €4 billion which has been dedicated annually for the delivery of 90,000 new social homes, 36,000 new affordable homes and 18,000 cost rental homes by 2030, will ensure we can meet our targets.

How has the trajectory of interest rates, combined with construction cost inflation, impacted the delivery of housing?

The Government are conscious of the significant challenges to be overcome, the double-digit inflation and persistent supply chain issues, and have taken a number of measures to alleviate this.

With respect to public housebuilding contracts, Government have introduced a framework to respond to the risk posed by exceptional levels of inflation and supply disruptions. This framework applies to public works contracts and will provide for up to a 70:30 burden sharing, i.e., the parties involved will share inflationary costs with the State bearing up to 70 per cent of the additional increase. The Framework is a pragmatic and proportionate response to the current challenges caused by inflation that are not within either the

Government’s or the contractor’s control. Project Tosaigh, which the Land Development Agency are advancing, and which aims to unlock land in private ownership that has planning permission but where delivery has stalled due to financing and other constraints, has a pipeline of projects anticipated to deliver circa 1,000 affordable for sale and cost rental homes. The Government have also launched the Croí Conaithe Cities fund which aims to bridge the current viability gap between the cost of building apartments and the market sale price. The apartments will then be sold to owner occupiers.

What impact will Budget 2023 have on the housing delivery?

Budget 2023 provides for an historic €4.5 billion capital investment to underpin Housing for All and deliver the largest State homebuilding programme ever. €1.3 billion will be invested in

emergency evictions ban, the impact of high interest rates on construction, and possible updating of the National Planning Framework.

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affordability measures in 2023 which further demonstrates the serious desire this Government has to increase the rates of homeownership. The budget which we have sends a strong signal to the sector that the State is the single largest actor in housing and gives them the confidence to continue to invest in homebuilding also.

According to Census 2022, over 166,000 homes across the State were recorded as vacant. How can these be brought into circulation as quickly as possible?

Housing for All sets out a blueprint to address vacancy. We have started rolling out grants of up to €50,000 to buy and refurbish empty and derelict homes in rural areas, towns and villages and city centres. In four short weeks of August 2022, we received more than 200 applications. There is a real desire among people to take on those properties and to tackle vacancy. In 2023, the Government is also introducing a Vacant Property Tax and I believe by using both ‘carrot and stick’ we can get to grips with residential vacancy once and for all.

In light of Census 2022 data, should the National Planning Framework be updated to ensure that sufficient land is zoned for residential use?

The National Planning Framework (NPF) is being reviewed, as is standard following the publication of new data. The review will inform updated baseline assumptions for population and housing projections. These will be used as the basis for updated national and local policy. It is important to note that there is already capacity for well over 100,000 new homes in Dublin alone, which requires land activation measures and infrastructural investment, rather than more zoning in surrounding counties. That is why we are taking radical steps such as introducing the new Zoned Land Tax and the new Land Value Sharing mechanisms as well as other activation measures.

What was the Government’s thinking on implementing the emergency evictions ban?

The increasing pressure on homeless services, the limited supply in the rental market and the struggles people are facing over the coming winter months are all a serious concern. In response to this, the Government decided to legislate for a temporary stay on

tenancy terminations this winter. The Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies)

Bill 2022 will defer ‘no fault’ tenancy terminations that are due to occur during the coming winter months from taking effect until after 31 March 2023.

Any tenant who wilfully withholds payment of rent or who engages in criminal or anti-social behaviour will not receive the protections of this moratorium. We were at all times conscious that restricting property rights could be the subject of a legal challenge and that is why such rigorous consultation with the Attorney General has taken place. We believe that this time-bound necessary measure is constitutionally sound.

What are your ambitions for housing delivery by the end of 2022?

By the end of 2022, I want us to have delivered our targets across all tenures, in particular social and affordable housing. I am confident that the overall target of 24,600 new build homes will be delivered in 2022 and keeping, and indeed building on, the pace of delivery will be very important as we enter into 2023. When I talk of the delivery of housing, I am very conscious that I am speaking about a safe, secure, home for life for some individual or a family and my ambition for housing delivery by the end of 2022 is that more of our people who need a home are able to get one. I know and I can see that things are moving but people need to see that, people need to see the delivery and how it will impact them and their lives.

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“The Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Bill 2022 will defer ‘no fault’ tenancy terminations that are due to occur during the coming winter months from taking effect until after 31 March 2023… We believe that this time-bound necessary measure is constitutionally sound.”

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

Policy Insights Series shares lessons from innovative practices to housing issues

How have stakeholders working to tackle homelessness in the south-east region delivered more effective, integrated services?

How have housing associations and tenants come together to build structures and cultures for tenant engagement? These are some of the questions dealt with to date by The Housing Agency’s Policy Insights Series, write Alex Dowdall, Policy Officer, and Roslyn Molloy, Head of Policy and Practice.

The answers to these questions are to be found in collaboration – an approach which is at the heart of The Housing Agency’s work. The Housing Agency works closely with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, local authorities, and approved housing bodies in the delivery of housing and housing services. Our vision is to achieve an integrated housing system, meeting the nation’s housing needs and promoting sustainable communities. We do this by providing evidence-based housing insights and data to inform thinking and policymaking; by working with others to deliver housing solutions; and by equipping our stakeholders with the capacity to respond quickly and effectively to challenges in the housing system.

With these objectives in mind, in 2022 The Housing Agency’s Policy Insights Series was launched. The aim of this new series is to provide the Irish housing sector with short case studies which highlight good practice in housing and innovative solutions to problems. The Policy Insights Series shares these examples so that housing providers can learn from each other and work collaboratively to deliver housing.

Alex Dowdall

Roslyn Molloy

Policy Insights Paper: Improving Homelessness Services: A Case Study from the South-East Region

Encouraging collaboration

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Improving homelessness services

The first issue in the series explored the case study of the south-east region to show how local authorities have collaborated to improve homelessness services. The paper describes the changes introduced since 2018 in the south-east region which have resulted in local authorities, homelessness service providers, the HSE, and other stakeholders working together to provide a more effective, integrated service. The changes introduced were in response to a rise in homelessness, including family homelessness, experienced in the region during the late 2010s, peaking in 2018. Alongside this was increasing evidence that B&Bs, the primary form of accommodation used for those presenting as homeless, were not suitable.

To address these issues, in 2018 the south-east region commenced a systematic review of its homelessness services conducted in collaboration between the local authority, the HSE, and relevant homelessness service providers. This led to a number of significant changes in the region’s structures, including the creation of a new, dedicated Homeless Lead role; the formation of the Waterford Integrated Homeless Service; the appointment of a Homeless Coordinator in each local authority; restructuring the Homeless Strategic Management Group to include directors of service, and the introduction of a Care and Case Management Support Framework. The paper describes how these structural changes were implemented, before detailing the most significant outcomes to arise from these changes. The restructuring created a highly effective and collaborative Strategic Management Group and helped build strong relationships with local stakeholders including service providers, estate agents, the HSE, and approved housing bodies. The review and restructure also saw the introduction of new innovative, collaborative programmes including the Waterford Emergency Family Service (WEFS). The WEFS was introduced as an alternative to B&B accommodation and involved hard-to-let local authority social housing units being allocated to homeless families in need of emergency accommodation. To date, 20 family and seven single accommodation units have been allocated to the project.

The paper demonstrates the positive impacts of collaborative working to deliver structural reforms to homeless service provision. These structural changes resulted in more than 50 per cent of those presenting as homeless being redirected from entering emergency accommodation. It concludes by drawing a number of lessons to be considered by other local authorities. These include benefits of a dedicated Homeless Lead role; establishing clear processes and regional homeless structures, including the involvement of senior management; and developing strong working relationships between health services, homeless service providers, AHBs, letting agents, and other key stakeholders.

Building tenant engagement structures and cultures

In its second issue, the series examined how housing providers and tenants have come together to build effective cultures and structures of tenant engagement. Using the case of Circle VHA, it describes how a housing provider and its tenants have collaborated to develop a structural approach that embeds tenant engagement policy and practice within the organisation’s strategic vision. It outlines the benefits that accrue to both tenants and housing providers from such an approach. In 2022, the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority (AHBRA) published new standards requiring AHBs to actively seek input from tenants and provide opportunities for engagement on

service provision. The aim of the case study is therefore to provide information to other social housing providers seeking to develop tenant engagement structures.

Circle VHA began the process of building a tenant engagement structure when they met with representatives from Supporting Communities, Northern Ireland’s independent tenant and community engagement champion, in 2019. This collaboration built a foundation for developing and implementing a tenant engagement structure and strategy. The paper describes the incremental approach that was adopted, and which began with planning, consultation, and training. This included forming a Tenant Steering Group to drive tenant involvement in the process and introducing organisation-wide tenant engagement training for all Circle VHA staff. The next stage was to embed tenant engagement within Circle VHA’s structures, specifically through the formation of a Tenant Advisory Group. This group has a formal position within Circle’s structure, and regularly meets with management, board, Chair and CEO to provide feedback and oversee tenant-related policies, procedures, and publications. The Tenant Advisory Group also led the third stage of the process – drafting a tenant engagement strategy. This strategy, written by tenants, sets out a menu of tenant engagement opportunities to be pursued by Circle VHA in the period 2021-2024, the most ambitious of which is to introduce a process to enable tenant representation on Circle VHA’s board. The final stage of the

process involved the allocation of sufficient resources to tenant engagement, including the hiring of a dedicated tenant engagement officer, with tenants involved in all stages of the hiring process.

The paper demonstrates the positive impacts and measurable outcomes attributable to this new tenant engagement structure, including meeting over 90 per cent of the targets outlined in Tenant Engagement Strategy’s Year 1 Action Plan, the delivery of organisation-wide training to all Circle VHA staff, and the improvement of tenant satisfaction scores over the period in which the tenant engagement strategy was implemented (Figure 2). A number of lessons for other housing providers are identified, ranging from the importance of senior management support from the beginning, to embracing technology and online resources, supporting tenants themselves to become leaders of the project, and the role of outside organisations in building trust and furthering the collaborative approach.

Future issues

practice in housing, promote collaborative working, and share innovative solutions to housing problems. The third issue in the series, due to be released shortly will consider how local authorities have learned from each other to drive quality asset management procedures. Ideas and case studies for future issues, to be published at regular intervals, are actively sought by The Housing Agency. Those who would like to share their case studies of innovative housing solutions should contact communications@housingagency.ie.

Launch of Circle VHA Tenant Engagement Strategy.

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

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Housing Commission: In profile

The Housing Commission held its first meeting in January 2022, having been established under Housing for All. It will take a long-term strategic view on the policies being pursued under the plan and will roll out the timeline for a future referendum on a right to housing. The Commission is made up of 12 members, all of whom are experts in the housing sector.

John O’Connor (Chair) is the former CEO of The Housing Agency.

Previous roles include Chief Executive of the Affordable Homes Partnership, and Executive Manager of the Housing and Communities Department in Dublin City Council. He worked in the construction industry before moving to local government and is a chartered engineer. .

Pat Doyle has been the CEO of the Peter McVerry Trust since 2005. He is also the president of the Irish Council for Social Housing, where he is serving his second consecutive term for the period 2021-2024. Doyle holds a higher diploma and a master’s in education and has over 30 years’ experience in the community and voluntary sector, working on social inclusion, managing a range of initiatives aimed at reducing risks of homelessness, addiction, and working with people in care settings.

Sorcha Edwards has been General Secretary of Housing of Europe, the European Federation of Public, Cooperative and Social Housing since 2014. Edwards leads the team and coordinates the network aiming at better regulation, better knowledge, and better finance for housing.

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

Paddy Gray is Professor Emeritus in housing at Ulster University and has a wide range of publications on housing policy and practice. In 2010, he was appointed the first and only Irish president of the Chartered Institute of Housing. He is chair and a board member of a number of housing organisations across the UK and Ireland including the Wheatley Group, Glasgow HA, and Tuath.

Patricia King is the general secretary of ICTU. She is a former vicepresident of SIPTU and served as one of two vicepresidents of ICTU.

She played a leading role in the Irish Ferries dispute between 2005 and 2006, and in subsequent negotiations that saw an overhaul of employment rights law and the establishment of the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA). King currently serves on the boards of the Apprenticeship Council, Court Services Board, and the Climate Change Advisory Council.

Kathryn Meghen is the CEO of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. As CEO, she oversees the development and implementation of RIAI policies and services to support the members and deliver the RIAI Strategy. She is on the editorial board of Architectural Ireland, House and Design Magazine, and the RIAI annual review: Irish Architecture Meghan was on the editorial board for the RIAI and Department of Housing’s publications New Housing and New Housing 2.

Ronan Lyons is an Associate Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin, where he is also Director of Trinity Research in Social Sciences. His research focuses on housing markets, urban economics, and economic history. His doctorate at Oxford was on Ireland’s housing market boom and bust of the early 21st century. He is a consultant to the IMF on residential property prices, a frequent contributor to national and international media on Irish housing and the broader economy and the author of the quarterly Daft.ie reports on the Irish housing market.

Michelle Norris is Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Geary Institute for Public Policy at University College Dublin. She has led over 30 research projects on housing policy and urban generation and produced 200 publications on the results. She has strong links with policymakers in Ireland and internationally. In 2011 and 2016, she was appointed as a member of the National Economic and Social Council and has served on the board of the Land Development Agency. Between 2012 and 2021, she chaired the board of the Housing Finance Agency. In 2021, she was one of three lead authors of Housing 2030 on how policymakers improve affordable housing outcomes.

David O’Connor was an architect for 27 years, becoming the Fingal County Architect in 1995, until being appointed to a senior local authority management post in charge of Planning and Development in 2003. He was appointed chief executive of Fingal County Council for the period 2006 to 2013. Later, O’Connor served for one year as director of the office dedicated to delivery of Rebuilding Ireland. He has acted as part of the Review Group of the operation of the Strategic Housing Development initiative.

Michael O'Flynn is the Chairman and CEO of the O’Flynn Group.

Established in 1978 as a house building company, it has progressed into one of the largest property development companies in Ireland. He has expertise in property backed operating businesses such as student accommodation, is a founding member of Property Industry Ireland, and is former chairman of the Cork branch of the Construction Industry Federation.

Brian O’Gorman has led Clúid Housing, one of the leading approved housing bodies in Ireland, for over 25 years.

During this time, he has grown Clúid’s property portfolio to over 9,000 homes. He is a former president of the Irish Council for Social Housing, a founding member of the Housing Alliance, and served on Dublin City Council’s strategic policy committee on housing for eight years. He holds a BA in philosophy from University College Dublin and an MSc in business from University College Cork.

Ailbhe O’Neill

is a barrister specialising in the areas of constitutional and regulatory law. She was the legal advisor to the Referendum Commissions established for the 30th Amendment of the Constitution (adoption of the Fiscal Stability Treaty) and the 33rd Amendment (creation of a Court of Appeal) and to the Nyberg Commission of Investigation. An assistant professor in the School of Law at Trinity College Dublin, her lecturing and research interests focus on property rights and regulation and she has published domestically and internationally in these fields.

Respond: Continuous improvement

Respond began work as a social housing provider (Approved Housing Body) but recognised early on that housing does not exist in isolation but as part of a wider community. They now provide family homeless services, early learning and school-age care, refugee resettlement services, daycare for older people and family support services alongside their work as an Approved Housing Body, delivering homes and services all around the country.

Respond currently have 1,422 homes in construction. In the last two years, the world has changed considerably. In acknowledgement, Respond undertook a mid-term review of their Strategic Plan 2019-2023 to ensure they remain agile in responding to the changing external environment and have published an updated plan covering the period from 2022 to 2024.

Respond, a listening and learning organisation, have several programmes of continuous improvement that work across the organisation. They are partnering with the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) in Trinity College, collaborating to enhance the brain health of tenants, service users and staff. The housing team, who work with tenants and manage Respond homes, has been working with the Centre for Effective Services (CES) to redesign how Respond deliver services to tenants. This work will create a new way of working to ensure the organisation is delivering consistent, focused services to all tenants where needs vary greatly. The [property] development team is creating a new evidence-informed design guide that will to support the continued delivery of high quality housing.

Respond CEO Declan Dunne outlines the organisation’s new Strategic Plan, raising the ambitions of social and affordable housing delivery and responding to increased challenges to people in need through their services.

Declan Dunne, CEO of Respond, says the organisation is very aware that they are producing this Strategic Plan at a time when uncertainties and risks abound.

“Building on our years of achievement and experience, we are setting out the direction in which we want to go and where we will be focusing our efforts. We realise that the implementation of the strategies we have set out will be challenging but we are encouraged by the unprecedented recognition given to the role of the AHB sector by the Government’s Housing for All plan and the commitment to multiannual capital budgets for housing provision.

“We also welcome the increased resources and reforms in the childcare sector which will improve the life chances of many children across society.

“Our plan originally included the ambitious target of providing 2,500 homes from 2019 to 2023.

The Board has agreed that we should work to increase this target to deliver up to 1,000 social homes and 250 cost rental home by 2024. We are strongly committed to increasing the national housing stock through direct construction.

“An important goal in the strategic plan is to provide housing for the large segment of the population for whom the marketplace is too expensive and who do not qualify for social housing. We are pleased to be giving leadership in the provision of affordable, cost rental homes and will continue to work with government to ensure we have a financially sustainable model for this tenure type into the future.”

Dunne says implementation of the Strategic Plan will adapt the successful approach used to date to capture learnings: “The focus will be on turning the goals and strategies into actions to achieve desired outcomes and identifying key roles, responsibilities, and interdependencies.

“Respond’s raison d’être is to support people who are in need. We are determined to do everything we can, in terms of resources and competencies, be it in relation to housing, childcare or other services and that is exactly what this Strategic Plan supports us to do.”

• Goal 1 – Building social housing: Respond will aim to deliver up to 1,000 new social homes each year with support from government and partners.

• Goal 2 – Tenants at the centre of our work: In seeking to improve lives, Respond will place tenants at the centre of our work, focusing on proactive tenant engagement, tenancy management and asset management to improve positive outcomes and tenant satisfaction.

• Goal 3 – Homeless services: Respond will work to prevent and ease homelessness and to support families and individuals who are homeless on their path back to independent living through the provision of emergency accommodation with 24/7 wrap around support.

• Goal 4 – Services in the community: Respond will provide high quality services in the heart of the community, including family support, early learning and school age care, daycare for older people and refugee resettlement services. We will work with partners to ensure the future provision of services that address identified need.

• Goal 5 – Affordable cost rental: Respond will aim to deliver up to 250 affordable cost rental homes annually for those for whom the market rents are too high.

• Goal 6 – Financial sustainability: Respond will maintain a sufficient level of financial health to grow, develop and sustain our planned housing and other services and activities.

• Goal 7 – Organisational excellence and accountability: In pursuit of social justice, Respond will be a high performing, compliant, results driven and accountable organisation that values our staff and those we work with.

• Goal 8 – Advocates for change: Respond will be an effective voice with, and for, people in housing need, people who are homeless and those using our services in the community to effect positive change.

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Homelessness

Monitoring and oversight of AHBs commences

powers and functions. This means AHBRA now has the ability to monitor and assess AHBs and carry out investigations into the affairs of AHBs, where it is considered appropriate.

AHBRA’s regulatory functions

This signals a shift from the establishment and development phase of AHBRA, as an independent regulatory body, to a more ‘business-as-usual’ model of regulatory oversight, which includes the introduction of our approach for the monitoring and assessment of AHBs.

All of AHBRA’s activities are rooted firmly in our functions, powers and strategic objectives as outlined in the Statement of Strategy 2021-2024:

• reliable and efficient AHB Registration Framework;

• proportionate standards and compliance frameworks;

• consistent and effective communication with our stakeholders;

• transparent and consistent risk-based regulation; and

• an agile, flexible, and accountable organisation.

Regulatory framework

For such a significant change to be successful it was important that AHBRA’s powers and functions were introduced on a phased basis. Primarily this was to allow AHBRA to build an effective organisation from the ground up, including the development of an appropriate regulatory framework.

Crucially, it provided AHBs time to fully

understand the requirements as laid out in the Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 and to prepare for the introduction of statutory regulation.

In early July 2022, Minister for Housing Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien signed the commencement order providing AHBRA with its remaining

AHBRA’s regulatory framework sets out our overall approach to the oversight of AHBs. It includes the registration of AHBs, the Standards for AHBs, monitoring and assessing compliance, education and guidance, promotion and awareness of the Act, and the collection and publication of information, as appropriate.

This will evolve over time as we gather information and data from registered AHBs and use this to identify and evaluate risk trends. This will enable informed decision-making on the application of our regulatory functions, including our monitoring and assessment frameworks.

Since the establishment of the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority (AHBRA) in February 2021,

there has been a substantial amount of work undertaken in the formation of our organisational structures and processes. The creation of the new statutory body marks an important change in how the AHB sector is regulated, writes Steven Sheridan, AHBRA Head of Communications and Performance.

Steven Sheridan

The Register of AHBs

On 1 January 2022, all organisations that held AHB status and were listed on the register maintained by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) were deemed to be registered with AHBRA in line with Section 34 of the Act. All deemed AHBs are subject to the Act.

Currently, there are 450 organisations listed on the AHB Register which can be found on the AHBRA website.

The Standards for AHBs

In February 2022, we published the Standards for AHBs, which are an integral part of AHBRA’s overall regulatory framework.

The standards encompass:

• the governance of AHBs;

• the financial management of and financial reporting by AHBs;

• property and asset management by AHBs; and

• tenancy management by AHBs.

The Standards for AHBs were developed with input from the AHB sector and a wide range of key stakeholders. They establish a set of outcomes that AHBs are required to achieve. These outcome-based standards allow for greater flexibility and are a recognition of the diversity within the sector. Additionally, we have published a suite of guidance documents to support the standards. These aim to help AHBs better understand the standards and provide useful advice on how organisations can demonstrate compliance.

The Standards for AHBs do not stand alone, they form an integral part of the overall regulatory approach and the application of risk-based regulation.

Monitoring and assessment of AHBs

AHBRA recently launched its Annual Monitoring and pilot assessment programmes for 2022. This incorporates a risk-based approach to regulation which ensures that AHBRA’s regulatory approach is appropriate, measured, and proportionate.

AHBs are requested to submit a range of data and information relating to their

organisation’s activities. The information and data captured will be used by AHBRA to consolidate sector wide information, identify risk trends, influence educational and guidance programmes, and inform our assessment programme(s).

AHBRA is currently conducting a pilot assessment programme involving a small number of AHBs who were selected to take part. The pilot programme is a vital component in the development of AHBRA’s overall assessment framework, allowing AHBRA the opportunity to test and evaluate the effectiveness of its internal policies and procedures, and to receive constructive feedback from those AHBs involved. We will launch the formal assessment programme in 2023.

AHBRA published its notifiable events guidance in May 2022. All AHBs are required to inform AHBRA of changes or events which may have a serious or significant impact on their organisation. These are known as notifiable events and more information relating to such events are outlined on the AHBRA website.

In summary

Statutory regulation and oversight of the AHB sector is now firmly underway. The changes being affected by AHBRA, as we implement the regulatory framework, will require increased awareness and understanding by all AHBs. This will enable organisations to demonstrate and evidence compliance with the Standards for AHBs.

The annual monitoring, assessment programme, and the notifiable events process are all examples of the new responsibilities for AHBs, as we begin to embed our regulatory functions in the new statutory environment. AHBs should continue to ensure they engage with the regulatory framework, participate in the educational and guidance webinars conducted by AHBRA and utilise all published advice and guidance.

E: info@ahbregulator.ie

“Statutory regulation and oversight of the AHB sector is now firmly underway.”

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Housing for All ‘on track’ for 2022 targets

With 17,000 new homes having been delivered since the official beginning of the Housing for All programme in September 2021, the Government’s Q2 2022 progress report for the programme states that it is “on track to deliver the 2022 target of 24,600 new homes”, although only 53 per cent of measures due for the quarter were fully delivered.

Of the 213 actions due for implementation under the Housing for All plan, 156 of these have been delivered or progressed, with a total of 30 measures due for delivery in Q2 2022. However, 16 of these, 53 per cent, were delivered on schedule, leaving 14 measures delayed, although the Government notes in its progress report that “significant progress has been made on the majority of these”. This marks a fall in the rate of delivery for the quarter when compared to Q1 2022, when 13 out of 20 measures due for delivery, 60 per cent, were delivered. It must be noted that of the 30 measures due for completion, 12 of these had been carried over from previous quarters in which their implementation was not achieved, with quarters three and four of 2021 having had delivery rates of 91 per cent and 68 per cent respectively.

Among the actions that have been delayed in Q2 2022 are:

• the provision of additional resources to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) in order to make trained RTB facilitators available to intervene at the early stages of disputes, initially due in Q2 2022, now revised to Q4 2022;

• the preparation and publication of standards guidelines for the development and refurbishment of emergency accommodation, initially due for Q2 2022, now revised to Q3 2022;

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• the provision of support to the Dublin Region Homeless Executive to pilot a scheme to convert local authority and AHB-owned emergency accommodation into own-door permanent social housing, initially due for Q2 2022, now revised to Q4 2022;

• the finalisation of a health care model for people experiencing homelessness, initially due for Q2 2022, now revised to Q3 2022;

• legislation for the increase of borrowing capacity of the Housing Finance Agency to €12 billion, initially due for Q2 2022, now revised to Q4 2022; and

• the retrofitting of 2,400 social homes, initially due for Q4 2021, now revised to Q4 2022.

Among the highlights of successful implementation pointed to by the Government is the launch of the €50 million Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund that “will support bringing vacant and underused buildings in our towns and villages back into residential use”. The fund will be delivered through local authorities who will provide grant support to those seeking to turn a formerly vacant house or building into a permanent home, “furthering the aim to create town centres that function as viable, vibrant and attractive locations for people to live, work, and visit”. Originally intended for launch in Q4 2021, the scheme will provide grants of up to €30,000 will be available for refurbishment of the building, which will include the conversion of buildings that were not previously used as homes. A further maximum top-up grant of €20,000 will be available for buildings that are derelict.

A further highlight pointed to by government is the establishment of the First Home Shared Equity Scheme, an “affordability measure” that will allow “approximately 8,000 households to bridge an existing affordability gap by providing buyers with part of the purchase price for their home, in return for the scheme taking an equity stake in the purchased home”. The €400 million scheme is being supported by the Government and participating mortgage lenders, with the maximum stake the scheme will take in a given home to be 30 per cent, or 20 per cent if the buyer avails of the Government’s Help to Buy incentive.

Housing delivery

The progress report also includes details of new housing completions, with it said that 17,000 homes have been delivered since the launch of Housing for All in Q3 2021. The plan aims for the delivery of 312,750 homes between 2022 and 2030, an average of 33,000 homes per year. As 2022 is the first year of the plan and Ireland is still recovering from the record low numbers of houses constructed per annum seen in the 2010s, the target for 2022 is a total of 24,600 homes.

To this end, Q1 2022 saw the completion of 5,669 homes, the commencement of 6,977 homes and planning permissions for a further 8,463 homes were granted. The completion figures show a 44.5 per cent increase from the 3,923 homes that were completed in Q1

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2021, although this comparison must of course be caveated with mention of the fact that Covid-19 restrictions were still in place in 2021. The figures are also, however, a 15.1 per cent increase on Q1 2020, the last pre-pandemic quarter where construction was unaffected. 1,109 new social homes were among those delivered in Q1 2022, including 639 new builds.

“According to analysis carried out”, the report states that Housing for All’s delivery targets for 2022 “will be met”. While a simple multiplication of Q1 completion data obviously brings up a figure short of 24,600, two things need to be borne in mind: delivery under Housing for All does not only include the provision of new builds, although this is the bulk of delivery, but also the acquisition of existing housing and the provision of it through social housing, and Central Statistics Office (CSO) data shows a clear pre-Covid trend of Q1 recording the lowest completion total of the year. Every year in the period 2013-2019 saw Q1 record the lowest total of completions in its given year, a trend returned to in 2021, although again this must be caveated with the acknowledgment of Covid restrictions in that particular quarter.

CSO data for completions in 2022 differs slightly from the Housing for All progress report, with total new home completions in Q1 2022 recorded as 5,662 rather than 5,669. However, in keeping with government predictions and with the

aforementioned trend of the ramping up of construction volume throughout the year, the CSO’s completions data for Q2 2022 shows a total of 7,654 homes, a 35 per cent quarterly increase and a 53 per cent year-on-year increase from Q2 2021.

CSO data also shows an annual increase of 2 per cent in the total number of dwellings granted planning permission in Q2 2022, a total of 11,374 units, comprising of 60 per cent apartments. However, worryingly, the CSO’s Build and Construction Index found output to be down 4.5 per cent in Q2 2022 on a quarterly basis, although it had still increased by 3.2 per cent on an annual basis. The residential building sector recorded a quarterly decline of 2.9 per cent in its seasonally adjusted output, and a 15.2 annual increase.

Housing for All is a plan that seeks to address not only Ireland’s housing provision crisis, but also its housing price crisis, and on that basis the CSO’s data for July 2022 will have made for grim reading for the Government: July 2022 saw the Residential Property Price Index exceed its peak value recorded in April 2007 by 0.8 per cent, with the median price for a residential price recorded at €295,000.

While the Government’s predictions are most likely accurate in that the 2022 targets for Housing for All will be reached, the figures tell the other side of the story: there is much still to be done.

Planning permissions continue to rise but unused permissions a challenge

As Ireland still battles to make up the ground in housing supply after years of underactivity, the number of planning permissions granted rose in Q2 2022, although concern abounds surrounding the estimated 70,000 to 80,000 residential units with permission that have not yet commenced construction.

While Ireland’s planning permission system is often portrayed as cumbersome and a barrier towards the development of the volume of residential units needed to address Ireland’s housing crisis, figures provided by the Government suggest that a more pressing issue is a widespread failure to commence construction on units for which permission has already been granted.

The Government’s Housing Supply Clearing House Measure document, published in June 2022, states that there is an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 residential units with planning permission in the State that have not yet commenced, including 40,000 in Dublin, equivalent to four years of housing supply in the city. A key focus within Housing for All, the document states, is thus “to ensure that these permissions are activated as quickly as possible and this requires tackling barriers to development, including the question of viability which has been observed to be one of the key issues holding up apartment development”.

Central to concerns around the development of apartments has been rapidly inflating costs, specifically of materials, that were inflating before Covid-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine but have since been exacerbated by both. A study by consultants Mitchell McDermott, published in March 2022, estimated the cost of construction of a mid-range two-bed apartment to now stand at €219,000, rising to €440,000 when all costs are taken into account, a 14 per cent rise since 2020. The report predicted the price to rise by a further 3 per cent, €6,000, in 2022.

Recent figures released by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage showed that 29,343 commencement notices had been received between the beginning of July 2021 and the end of June 2022, a 7.6 per cent increase on the period of July 2020 to June 2021.

The latest planning permissions for dwelling units data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for the second quarter of 2022 also show an

increase, albeit a less pronounced one. The number of permissions granted in Q2 2022 (11,374) showed a 2 per cent increase from the same quarter in 2021, although complaints about the difficulty of developing apartments are possibly being borne out in the numbers, with a 5.8 per cent decrease recorded in the apartment permissions approved in Q2 2022, a decrease that is made up for by a 16.6 per cent increase in house permissions.

The accumulated data for the first six months of 2022 show the same trend, with house permissions rising by 32.2 per cent, but apartment permissions falling by 4.7 per cent, meaning a total rise in dwelling permissions of 9.5 per cent. Previous criticisms of Irish housing have centred on an oversupply of houses and undersupply of apartments to suit a population that is now single for longer, living in cities in larger proportions, and having smaller families. For those attempting to address this long-standing issue, these numbers will come as a worry.

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Making social housing stock more energy efficient and cost effective for

Fingal residents

War in Ukraine, growing inflation and an energy crisis were taking hold, pushing households from one challenge to another and bringing financial stress and unease as people looked at rising bills, including those from heating their homes.

Among the much-needed packages to help reduce the impact of higher prices being felt announced in the Budget this month, the increased funding to help improve the energy efficiency of more houses across the country is a welcome commitment. Whilst the more immediate short-term measures such as electricity credits and a fuel allowance payment boost will help those in need, it is the desire to seek a solution in the long run

which we are especially keen to help progress further, particularly where there is a focus on supporting residential retrofits.

The decision to continue a countrywide retrofitting programme of this magnitude is to be commended. It is a tangible intervention that can help tackle several key underlying problems, including improving the energy efficiency of housing stock. Fingal County Council happily stepped up under last year’s pilot programme which has tapped into the significant level of central funding available that allows local authorities like ourselves to focus on upgrading our stock with energy efficient measures and

provide energy efficient heating systems.

Over a four-month period in that first pilot phase, we successfully managed to retrofit the 65 council properties we had been allocated funding for, moving their BER rating to a B2 or higher level. That not only makes them much warmer and healthier for residents, but also helps reduce their energy usage and costs.

Orla Harte, Chief Architectural Technician at Fingal and the project lead on the Retrofit Programme explains: “This is a 10-year programme that will see us upgrade some 25 per cent of our housing stock to a B2 BER standard. As part of that we are carrying out a variety of works to each home in order to achieve that higher rating. Some of these could include triple-glazed windows, LED lighting, rewiring, external doors, PV panels on roofs, installation of heat pumps, an upgrade of external wall and attic insulation, and the upgrade of heating controls. Importantly, this work is all carried out with residents still living in their homes.”

The council teams involved and our contractors doing the actual retrofitting work learnt much during the 2021 pilot and this has been helpful as we have gone about delivery of our 2022 targets. Whilst we had been allocated funding for retrofitting 81 homes, given the nature of the approach we have taken we have managed to complete in the region of 100 properties. With the availability of additional funding to progress the rollout further in 2023, we hope to be in a position to carry out energy upgrade works to some 200 homes across the county.

Fingal’s Director of Housing, Robert Burns, says: “The Government’s ongoing commitment to prioritising retrofit works in housing stock means we are able to make some big gains, both environmentally and financially. We are taking a whole-house approach rather than doing this in a piecemeal way, which

After nearly two years of upheaval in the world had seemingly come to an end, no one could have predicted that 2022 would quickly usher in new economic turmoil and an unpredictable future for many.

allows us to deliver a long-term investment that not only improves the energy efficiency of older homes but also helps residents reduce their energy bills at a time when many are feeling the pinch.

“This really is positive undertaking, and we want to start scaling up significantly moving forward, especially given how the Council’s teams have been able to establish an approach that can smoothly roll out from one allocated site to the next. In doing so, we have worked with tenants, contractors, and project partners in a collaborative way to help remove barriers and achieve meaningful progress as we carried out delivery of the programme. Striving to continuously improve our approach is something which we believe will help streamline the delivery, not only in Fingal, but nationally.”

Along with improving overall comfort levels for households and easing some of the angst when it comes to prioritising what their money goes towards, energy efficiency remains at the core of what we are delivering. That includes making homes less draughty, easier and more efficient to heat, and using renewable technology such as PVs to reduce the strain on existing services.

In the majority of upgrades we have done, that has meant ensuring that heat loss has been addressed. Estimates suggest that in winter a poorly insulated home could potentially lose up to 35 per cent of its internal warmth through the ceilings, another 25 per cent through the walls and up to 20 per cent through the floor and windows. With such a waste of heat from these, insulation and draughtproofing were a clear priority. So, in addition to the installation of low-energy loss front doors and triple glazed windows in a large number of homes in our retrofit programme, a great effort was put towards adding insulation. While this can be an expensive task to undertake in existing buildings, we felt that the longterm benefit for households – and ultimately the Council – significantly outweighed any short-term cost.

Where upgrades to the building fabric are a vital – but unseen – measure, it is the more noticeable additions such as roofs with integrated solar panels or air-source heat pumps which many will associate with the retrofit rollout. Heat pumps are now a common sight thanks to legislation around new builds, and as they are a proven technology that work exceptionally well, the economic viability

of installing these is unquestionable.

Mayor of Fingal, Howard Mahony, believes what has been achieved recently is a positive step forward and hopes that the programme can kick-on. He says: “Transforming public housing stock so that it is helping reduce emissions is a challenge that Fingal has readily embraced. In doing so, we are not only helping improve the environment, but also helping residents across the county to save money at a time when there is a spike in bills that can sometimes be overwhelming.”

As our retrofit programme continues, there is certainly interest from communities in the county to see when they too may benefit from upgrade effort. Meanwhile, the feedback we have had from residents who have had retrofits is encouraging, with a feel-good factor on the environment being reported, electricity usage dropping by almost a half in some cases, others welcoming a better quality of life and a general amazement at having a constant supply of hot water.

However, this is the start of a bigger process. The Dublin Energy Masterplan –developed by Codema – has identified that residential properties are the highest source of emissions and if we are to

meet the 2050 net zero emissions target, we need to find better ways to work together. Social and economic benefits from the proposals of the Dublin Region Energy Masterplan will be health benefits from an improvement in local air pollution and air quality as well as direct and indirect local employment generated. There will be a reduction in energy bills for residents and businesses, as well as warmer homes, a reduction of fuel poverty and importantly a muchdecreased reliance on fuel imports.

The underlying tenet of a retrofitting programme is a no brainer for us in Fingal, even more so now as the cost of living continues to rise for many of our residents. What is more the programme is also helping us move towards net-zero targets and protect the environment at a time when it is vitally important to do so. We hope that we can now quickly replicate the success we have had thus far, particularly if we can also help streamline the system along the way.

W: www.fingal.ie

“We are taking a whole-house approach rather doing this in a piecemeal way, which allows us to deliver a long-term investment that not only improves the energy efficiency of older homes but also helps residents reduce their energy bills at a time when many are feeling the pinch.”

Robert Burns, Director of Housing, Fingal County Council

Encouraging collaboration and

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Record homeless figures tell story of a missed opportunity

Having reached over 10,000 for the first time in 2019, the number of homeless people in Ireland was reduced throughout the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, but 2022 has seen a regression, with record high amounts of people accessing emergency accommodation recorded in the consecutive months of July and August.

Having peaked at 10,448 total people accessing emergency accommodation in November 2019 during the pre-Covid era, numbers fell to a low of 7,991 in May 2021 over the course of the pandemic. However, this figure was still higher than any homelessness figure recorded in Ireland prior to June 2017.

Stats for 2022 show a failure to grasp the opportunity that the Covid pandemic had opened up: the chance to fight the record numbers of homelessness that predated the pandemic and ensure that the once-

unthinkable figure of 10,000 homeless people in the State once again became unthinkable. The figure was breached again for the first time since the onset of the pandemic in April 2022, when 10,049 people, including 2,944 children, were recorded as having accessed emergency accommodation.

Figures have only worsened since then, rising to 10,325 (including 3,028 children) in May, 10.492 (3,071 children) in June, a record 10,568 (3,137 children), and, again, a record 10,805 (3,220 children) in August. As always

with these government figures, it must be remembered that what is being collated here is the number of people accessing emergency accommodation, meaning that the true number of homeless people, when the ‘hidden homeless’ and rough sleepers are factored in, was almost certainly above 11,000 in August 2020.

The data across the months in 2022 where over 10,000 homeless people have been recorded show that the majority of homeless adults are in the 25-44 age group, with 53 per cent of

the homeless adults in April belonging to that

and 54 per cent in May, June, July, and August also falling within the age bracket. Second was the 45-64 age group, which recorded a 27 per cent proportion of homeless adults in each of these months.

As the year progressed, a miniscule change was recorded in the gender balance of the homeless adults. Having accounted for 65 per cent of the adult homeless population in April, May, and June, males accounted for 64 per cent of homeless adults in July and August.

As expected, the regional balance of the homeless population is heavily skewed towards Dublin. In April, 70.2 per cent of the 7,105 homeless adults and 73.1

per cent of the 1,308 homeless families were recorded in the county; in May, these figures stood at 70.9 per cent of 7,297 adults and 71.2 per cent of 1,366 families; in June, 70.9 per cent of the 7,421 adults were in Dublin, along with 71.5 per cent of the 1,385 homeless families; July saw 70.1 per cent of the 7,431 homeless adults in Dublin and 71.4 per cent of the 1,423 families; and August saw 70.2 per cent of 7,585 homeless adults and 71.9 per cent of 1,483 homeless families in the county. According to the 2022 census, the population of the State is 5,123,536, and the county of Dublin’s is 1,450,701, meaning that a city home to 28.3 per cent of the State’s total population is home to a consistent level of almost three quarters of its homeless population.

Delivering cost rental and Project Tosaigh

housing report

The LDA is currently active on 12 sites around the country and has launched an initiative to work with the private sector (Project Tosaigh) to acquire as yet unbuilt homes for cost rental and affordable purchase to accelerate the short-term delivery of a further 5,000 homes, catalysing their development.

Critical to creating new communities in the areas which are most in need of the

supply of new affordable housing is our interaction and collaboration with partners across the public sector. From identifying sites, through to the public consultation, master-planning and development phases, our aims will be achieved with close cooperation with city and county councils, approved housing bodies, the Department of Housing, and the range of state agencies who provide land for much-needed development.

Shanganagh, Shankill, County Dublin

The LDA in partnership with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, has commenced construction on the largest public housing scheme in the State in recent years at Shanganagh in Shankill, County Dublin

Development Agency (LDA) is a key channel for the development of cost rental housing with a mission to unlock state land and make more efficient use of it to deliver largescale affordable housing projects.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien TD; Tim Lucey, Chief Executive, Cork County Council; Phelim O’Neill, LDA; and John O’Flynn, O’Flynn Group, against a backdrop of the building activity at Clonmore, Ballyviniter, Mallow, County Cork.

Shanganagh is an important milestone in progressing Housing for All, delivering on the LDA’s mission to unlock state land to deliver large-scale affordable housing projects around the country.

The first homes will be available by the end of 2024. The homes at Shanganagh will be 100 per cent affordable, with 51 per cent cost rental (306 homes), 15 per cent affordable purchase (91 homes) and 34 per cent social housing (200 homes). The development will offer a mix of accommodation suitable for single people, couples, and families with 99 of the new homes to have three bedrooms.

LDA affordable homes: First affordable purchase scheme

Aside from the development of sites on State-owned land, the LDA is progressing Project Tosaigh, a unique initiative to deliver 5,000 new homes by unlocking land in private ownership that has full planning permission but where delivery has stalled due to financing and other constraints. The process is progressing well, and we are delighted to have just launched our first scheme in partnership with Cork County Council.

Clonmore, Ballyviniter, Mallow, County Cork

The Land Development Agency (LDA) is to make available 95 affordable purchase homes under its Project Tosaigh initiative, through which the Agency expects to source almost 1,000 homes nationwide by year-end as part of its first phase.

The new homes are located in Clonmore, Ballyviniter, Mallow, in a joint project with Cork County Council, which will manage the application process with prospective buyers and the well-known developers the O’Flynn Group.

Prices will start from €260,0001 for three-bed semi-detached houses and €280,0002 for four-bed semi-detached houses, with buyers able to get support for up to 25 per cent of the cost through the Government’s affordable housing fund, under Housing for All. The application process for the first tranche of 38 homes will open on 24 October with 22 of the homes ready to be occupied in 2022 and the balance to be completed in 2023.

Clonmore is located on the northern side of Mallow town centre, within easy walking distance of a wide range of

amenities and just 2km from the main N20 Cork to Limerick road. The homes, built by the O’Flynn Group, include a mix of 24 three-bedroom semi-detached houses, 71 four-bedroom semidetached houses with private gardens set in a landscaped family friendly estate.

Pear Tree Crossing at Digital Hub, Dublin 8

The LDA has taken the lead role for the master planning of these lands in a first, key step in the redevelopment of these key State lands in Dublin City Centre to provide new mixed tenure affordable homes, accommodation for enterprise and commerce combined with amenity, cultural, community and open spaces that would realise tangible, social, economic and community benefits to be integrated into The Liberties.

St Kevin’s, Cork

The Land Development Agency (LDA) was delighted to welcome the Minister for Housing to the site of the former St Kevin’s Hospital in Cork city as enabling works begin. The development will regenerate an unused and derelict piece of State land to deliver much needed social and affordable housing for Cork. We hope to complete the tender process for the appointment of a main contractor by the end of this year, with the first homes available in 2024. Planning permission was approved for the construction of 265 homes, an enterprise centre and crèche facilities at the former St Kevin’s Hospital site in Shanakiel, Cork.

About the LDA

The Land Development Agency (LDA) was created in September 2018 with the purpose of improving the supply of affordable homes for individuals and families through the development of State and other land to deliver long-term sustainable solutions. The LDA has a national focus and is advancing schemes throughout Ireland

The LDA is underpinned by the Land Development Agency Act 2021, which gives us a statutory footing to pursue our goals. The Government has set ambitious targets under Housing For All, and we are pleased to be able to make a contribution to those targets, particularly when it comes to cost-rental as a new form of tenure in the State.

In the medium term the LDA have set its own target of delivering 1,500 homes per year, this will position us as one of the largest housebuilders in the country and the only one of that scale delivering 100 per cent affordable housing.

The LDA has also recently made significant progress on its longer-term pipeline with the submission of four planning applications (Dundrum, Balbriggan, Skerries and Naas) that will, if approved, deliver over 2,300 homes in schemes that will be 100 per cent affordable and social housing.

www.lda.ie

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Peartree Crossing: Image from new draft masterplan proposed for lands at a digital hub in Dublin 8.

Housing: A national or local crisis?

Maybe if we are all asking the same question, maybe, just maybe we can shift through opinion and get to the nub of the issue. So many people suggest that we have a crisis and yet we have so many new homes, for sale, for affordable and social housing, that are being voted against; land not being rezoned to enable the building of new homes and planning permissions lying idle, it is obviously not a national crisis for everyone.

How many appeals or observations are open within An Board Pleanála at this present time? While this is not the question being posed to you, a brief look at the website confirms a large number, a snapshot yes, but each of those appeals or observations is a block on an attempt to build or supply housing in this country, why? Not a simple answer, that much can be conceded, but if the country is facing a national crisis why are so many solutions and their progression being blocked?

Is it a national crisis? There is that question again. To answer a question with a question first, does every area need social and affordable housing? If not then it is not a national crisis, it is a local one; it is my back yard, my community and my crisis, my problem, not a national one. If I come from an affluent area, do I need social or affordable housing in that area to remain in the community I was raised in, or would it be preferable to move further afield so as not to taint that area with my need for housing? Surely my need, my community, should support my need for housing or is that my crisis, my problem and not the community’s, therefore not the nation’s?

I take a walk around my county, my area and I see land everywhere, I see a lot of housing, surely some social and affordable housing too and I acknowledge that each of those is a home to someone who needed it; for that family, their housing crisis was resolved. What about the areas not so affluent? Do these have a need for more social and affordable housing? If there is already a bank of social and affordable housing in this area will the community still want to live in that community, close to family and friends?

for All was applauded and welcomed by stakeholders as a response to a nation’s housing crisis, but is it really a crisis for all or only those that need housing and those specifically tasked with responding to that need? John Hannigan, CEO of Circle

Housing Association.

If there is land available, should we not build on it or can there be too much social and affordable housing? This is something that I am hearing more and more, “there is already too much (particularly) social housing in that area, we do not need more”. Can this really be the case?

So many questions which beg opinion and reach into the heart of the crisis we are in, but the one question I leave you with is the one I started with, is this a crisis for those who need a home and those tasked to respond or is it a crisis for this nation which needs a unified response?

In my role as CEO for a large Approved Housing Body, I am tasked with providing homes for those in housing need. Circle Voluntary Housing Association has been doing that since 2003. Now, more than ever, I am hearing the “too much social” phrase being used to stop development. Concerns about too many unemployed people in one area, not enough diversity of housing and not enough housing for first-time buyers. The truth is that there will never be too much housing in Ireland. We have an underutilisation of land right across our country, maybe not in Dublin but in nearly every other part of our land. Until we see supply increased by at least double, consistently for the next 10 years, we cannot have too many homes being built, for social, affordable, or first-time buyers.

If this is considered to be a national crisis, and I believe it is, should we not create an all-party process that finds a way of addressing the issues causing

the crisis. Unfortunately, it is a complex issue, there is no one solution and the potential solutions have many other unforeseen consequences, but should that stop us at least trying?

It will take five to 10 years for us to work our way out of our current predicament, this is not good enough for the mother, father and their children living in the one room in the bed and breakfast allocated by the relevant local authority (where they may have been for five years already), or the individual person trying to exit rough sleeping and homelessness, or the Garda or nurse or trainee doctor or teacher (all of whom earn less than the highest threshold for social housing) who want to live in their own community or just find a house to call their home.

My call is for all those involved in finding solutions for the national and local housing crisis, to come together and to work to shorten this time in the name of the citizens of Ireland. Put aside party, ideological differences and work to change how we approach this very serious human disaster that we are in.

“If this is considered to be a national crisis, and I believe it is, should we not create an all-party process that finds a way of addressing the issues causing the crisis. Unfortunately, it is a complex issue, there is no one solution and the potential solutions have many other unforeseen consequences, but should that stop us at least trying?”

John Hannigan, CEO Circle Voluntary Housing Association

Encouraging collaboration and

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2023 mooted as right to housing referendum date

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien TD has indicated that a referendum on a constitutional right to housing could be held in the early part of 2023.

O’Brien, who it was confirmed will retain his cabinet role in the upcoming December reshuffle, has been attempting a number of initiatives to curtail the housing crisis, including Housing for All and the establishment of the Housing Commission.

Article eight of the European Convention of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence”. This argument has been used by those in favour of constitutional reform to argue that the non-provision of housing is in contrast to the European values to which Ireland holds itself.

The Articles between 40 and 44 enshrine constitutional rights to the citizens of the State, which cover civil liberties such as freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of religion. Economic rights are not provided for as a state guarantee in Ireland.

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Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

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The Taoiseach has stated that government intervention on rent prices would be unconstitutional, but a constitutional right to housing would invariably involve a level of state intervention in the housing market, whether these are publicly owned or with price caps on rents. Additionally, during the Covid-19 level five restrictions, the Government banned tenancy evictions and has banned evictions again until April.

The Irish Council for Human Rights argues that the “unconstitutional” argument of which the Taoiseach, among others, has made is disproven by the nature of a provision within Article 42, which obliges the Government to “supply the place” of parents who cannot or will not look after their children. In other words, the State already possesses the power to provide housing for citizens as long as they are children.

The Housing Commission, established earlier this year, includes a subcommittee chaired by Ailbhe O’Neill which aims to lay the groundwork for a referendum in 2023. It further completed a public consultation on holding a referendum which closed for submissions on 2 September this year.

The subcommittee meets every month and gathers the opinions and viewpoints of members of the general public, as well as experts in the housing sector.

Home for Good, representing Ireland’s leading homeless charities, published its submission for the proposed constitutional amendment:

1. “The State recognises, and shall vindicate, the right of all persons to have access to adequate housing.”

2. “The State shall, through legislative and other measures, provide for the realisation of this right within its available resources.”

They further state: “The fundamental problem is not that our Constitution sets out strong property rights. The fundamental problem is that the Constitution fails to set out what is meant by the ‘common good’ against which those rights are intended to be balanced and does not expressly protect the right to housing.

“Those in need of housing reform are left to rely on something that has been given no place, no words in the Constitution. It allows our legislators to shy away from doing what is right.

“This is not good enough. This is not what the people of Ireland want. We seek that the necessary words are spelt out clearly and unambiguously.”

There have been numerous attempts in the Dáil to introduce an amendment or piece of legislation which guarantees a right to housing. The latest of these, the 39th Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Housing) Bill 2020, introduced by People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett, is currently at committee stage in the Dáil.

Sustainability to the fore in new residential developments

decisions and is a key priority for regulators, policymakers, investors, and asset managers. Many international companies have appointed sustainability managers and sustainability teams to run a wide range of strategies to comply with their ESG policies and investment mandates which will play an internal role in the evolution of ESG within the asset management industry.

The feedback that Hooke and MacDonald have had from fund managers is that many of the institutional funds are putting money aside for ESG only assets. There is more of a mandate to invest in ESG credential buildings or buildings to be refurbished to hit those credentials. Asset owners, such as pension funds, are increasingly demanding sustainable investing strategies from their asset managers and this ultimately forms an important part of investors underwriting and due diligence assessment.

One of the most globally recognised identifiers of green buildings is through LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). LEED provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings. There are different levels of certification, including a basic certification level, then silver, gold, and platinum levels. Some of the features of a building which are analysed include the following:

Considering the fact that buildings generate almost 40 per cent of energy consumption globally, with 28 per cent coming from the operations of buildings themselves, most investors around the world are committing to more sustainable practices than previously.

Irish building standards and statutory requirements related to them have been evolving over the last 10 years and this has improved the quality and sustainable characteristics of new residential developments. The housing energy efficiency regulations for new

housing that are in force in Ireland are applicable to both new homes and major renovations of existing properties. The European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) introduced new building standards through amendments to Part L of the Building Regulations.

Investor attitudes and demand

Sustainability and the wider ESG agenda are increasingly front and centre of investment considerations and

• building locations away from environmentally sensitive areas;

• access to public transport;

• access to bicycle storage;

• efficient use of energy, water, and other resources;

• use of renewable energy, such as solar energy;

• pollution and waste reduction measures, and facilitation of re-use and recycling;

• good indoor environmental air quality;

Hooke and MacDonald, a market leader in the Irish

market, state that sustainable real estate is a stand-out feature within today's international real estate industry and that investors and stakeholders are becoming increasingly motivated to acquire properties that have sustainable characteristics, writes Ken MacDonald, Managing Director.

Ken MacDonald

• use of materials that are non-toxic, ethical, and sustainable;

• consideration of the environment in design, construction, and operation;

• consideration of the quality of life of occupants in design, construction, and operation; and

• a design that enables adaptation to a changing environment.

Economic benefits:

• gain competitive edge;

• attract tenants;

• manage performance;

• meets ESG goals; and

• cost effective.

Health benefits:

• happier occupants;

• healthier spaces with cleaner air;

• indoor environmental quality;

• reduce pollution;

• reduce energy and carbon emissions; and

• it is worth noting that LEED certification dominates BREEAM certification in markets globally, except for in Britain.

From Hooke and MacDonald’s experience of managing over 3,000 apartments and houses for institutional investors there is an increasing focus on being able to monitor and report on sustainability and ESG performance over the life of the assets. The GRESB approach is being sought after by a number of investors at this stage.

Sustainability and the Irish market

The Irish development community has evolved very positively in terms of sustainable development and the newer buildings being produced are of a very high quality, with a strong focus on energy efficiency and promoting sustainable usage of utilities. This approach is from developers and also their architects and other design team members, who are very focused on sustainable development, and they are ensuring that these traits are being designed into new schemes.

Purchasers of houses and apartments in Ireland, are becoming more cognisant of the sustainable characteristics and energy efficiency. Buyers’ perception of sustainability has rapidly moved away from just the cost saving on their heating but towards the overall quality of their living environment. This can be seen across all consumer groups, with first time buyers who are generally younger, reviewing the savings they will achieve over the course of their mortgage based on a more sustainable build, while in comparison the older population may factor in the health benefits such as the air quality aiding the reduction of respiratory conditions which can be caused by dampness in older homes.

The future

The demand for efficient buildings is growing exponentially. With financial, environmental, and social incentives in place the built environment will continue to transform. The following trends are being seen in some markets:

• investor shift towards energy efficiency and emissions regulation accelerating;

• margin discounts offered by active green lenders accretive to overall fund performance;

• green buildings being able to exhibit lower systematic risk through more stable income; and

• potential for yield compression and increased asset liquidity.

Material sustainability issues are becoming increasingly relevant in the future in terms of capital values and liquidity. When buying a property today that is designed, delivered, operated, and monitored to the highest standards then you can have confidence that if you ever go to sell that property or have it valued you will be in a good position; and it will perform better than a property that does not have sustainable characteristics as an intrinsic part of its nature.

Dealing with purchasers, including investors, over recent months and from research internationally, Hooke and MacDonald have found that there is an increasing appetite for properties that can illustrate sustainability and ESG as a high priority. The Irish construction industry is very well positioned in terms of developing sustainable buildings and having a focus on energy efficiency and is actively embracing the concept.

T: 086 256 3851

E: ken@hmd.ie

W: www.hmd.ie

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

housing report

The ‘renter generation’ and future policy implications

A study by the Economic Social Research Institute (ESRI) has found that homeownership for people aged 25-34 has declined from 60 per cent to under 30 per cent between the Celtic Tiger era of 2005 and 2015, and has predicted challenges for the current generation of renters in getting onto the housing ladder.

The report has revealed further challenges for the younger generations as they retire in the future, namely that homeownership has traditionally sheltered pensioners from additional expenses, and that if the ‘renter generation’ remains unable to access homeownership through their lives, then it will rapidly increase the pressure on the pensions system. Ownership traditionally provides a ‘double dividend’ of reduced expenses and lowering housing costs.

The continued requirement to cover housing costs for renters in retirement can be seen as an additional vulnerability in terms of retirement income adequacy in Ireland, over and above the general concern of sufficient pension income.

Additionally, research by the CSO and Eurostat has found that, over the last decade, homeownership levels have been decreasing more rapidly in Ireland than the EU average, although there has been decline throughout the EU, demonstrating that this is not a problem unique to Ireland. The ESRI has, however, found that homes in the State are overvalued by 7 per cent.

Tenure shares Ireland

Generational divide in homeownership

Homeownership rates are roughly 10 percentage points lower (approximately 80 per cent) for those currently aged 55-64 and 45-54 when compared with current retirees (approximately 90 per cent), the report states that “this differential is unlikely to close substantially for these groups given their position in the lifecycle”.

The report recommends a reform of the pension system (both public and private) outlining the outdated nature of the current system which is geared towards pensioners who have traditionally been able to pay off a mortgage on a bought home. It outlines that, since projections show that homeownership will be lower for future generations, that consideration should be given toward this when it comes to future policy formulation.

It further critiques the Government’s current housing policies as being “uncertain” as to whether it will increase the levels of homeownership in the State, although it does acknowledge “there is certainly time for policies to influence the outcomes of this research from both a housing tenure and income support perspective”.

The report further emphasises the divide in poverty between younger people and older people in the State, and that the nature of the housing model in Ireland means that houses will only continue to become more expensive.

“Given future demographic projections and associated sustainability challenges, it is unlikely the State will also be able to fully carry the cost burden for the challenge of higher housing costs in retirement. Therefore, developing a policy strategy which mixes lifetime incentives to accumulate retirement assets during employment with an adequate safety net is most likely to be required,” the report states.

Given that homeownership declines as generations get younger, and that the population is continuing to grow in the State, it is difficult to envisage where the end to this problem comes from. Housing for All has the stated objective of providing affordable, high quality housing for every citizen in the State.

Whilst building has increased since the implementation of Housing for All, many of these homes have been acquired by wealthy property developers, thus emphasising the generational divide between the renter generation and the older population who have been able to own their own homes.

Source: CSO Census of Population, various years.

Ireland lagging behind in the construction of apartment schemes

housing report

In continental Europe, the vast majority of urban populations reside in apartments. Predominant features of European apartments are location, convenience, and amenities. Residents generally have access to amenities such as crèches, playgrounds, gyms, green areas, and car park facilities, all in proximity to shops and public transport.

The SCSI Cost of Apartment Delivery report, published in January 2021, provides figures on the cost of delivering various categories of apartments to the Irish market. The report indicates that apartments are more expensive to develop compared to houses, and that the viability of a project depends on the sale value exceeding the total development cost. In most instances, the

cost of building apartments is greater than the market value of a unit attainable by owner-occupiers. The report highlights that the construction of buy-to-rent schemes are more viable than buy-to-sell developments, partially due to reduced amenities for the latter type.

Additional factors influencing unit price include hard building costs driven by structural features of apartments, followed by building regulations and energy rating regulations. The feasibility of such projects also becomes more complex and costly due to the (essential) requirement that multi-unit developments be more heavily regulated than housing developments, as well as the need to secure sufficient levels of funding.

There is a pressing need to address these issues which are causing a low output of apartments in Ireland to the owner-occupier market.

An introduction to the scheme

On 10 May 2022, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage published an outline of the Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme. The scheme, seen as necessary under the Government’s Housing for All plan, is a fund which aims to support the construction and sale of apartments to owner-occupiers. The scheme involves use of the funds to bridge the cost of development and bringing to market of each unit, and the market sale price. It is argued it will encourage compact growth in vibrant, liveable cities in addition to reducing vacancy and dereliction.

The Department estimate some 70,000 planning permissions remain uncommenced across Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford as a direct result of the viability gap. The Scheme will benefit from a €450 million fund earmarked for the Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme and an additional €50 million for Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Scheme, a separate scheme providing grants between €30,000 to €50,000 for refurbishment of derelict properties.

It is proposed that the funding support be payable at the point of final conveyance to the eligible owner-occupier. It is further proposed that the Scheme will be managed and administered by the Housing Agency on behalf of the Department.

Development eligibility

The Department outlines the following criteria for development eligibility:

1. Located within Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, or Waterford;

2. Four storeys or higher and minimum net density of 35 dwellings per hectare;

For years, various experts have held that the answer to housing supply shortages in cities lies with apartment construction. Certainly, where limited space exists, building up instead of out is difficult to argue with, write

Paddy Smyth, Partner Real Estate and Joanna Bannon, Senior Associate Real Estate at Fieldfisher

report

3. Close to public transport and amenities;

4. Must be sold to owner-occupiers;

5. Demonstrable viability gap; and

6. Development has full grant of planning approval but must not have commenced construction at time of submission (an exemption for multiphased developments exists).

Should a development meet this criteria, it will be ranked based on date of delivery, quality of development, density and delivery cost per apartment in addition to core services and amenities.

Proposals will then be subject to detailed due diligence and an open book assessment to ensure that the funding support provided feeds through in reduced acquisition cost for the ultimate owner-occupier. The requirement of open-book accounting may be challenging for financed developments where the financial details are required by banks to be kept confidential.

Eligibility of purchasers and costs

It is intended that eligible developments will be available openly to any purchaser(s) to live in themselves, or to jointly purchase one of the designated apartments under the scheme with the expressed intention of occupying the apartment as their normal place of residence. The purchaser will be required to provide a statutory declaration to this effect and will only be entitled to one apartment supported by the scheme.

Individual unit market prices will be determined following the due diligence process and both delivery costs and market values will be assessed by independent quantity surveyors and valuers appointed by the Housing Agency. While the level of funding will be dependent on the viability gap for each apartment, this will be calculated and fixed closer to the date of delivery. The Government anticipates maximum funding for each apartment to be in the region of €120,000 with exceptions of an additional maximum of 20 per cent in regional cities where market prices result in a larger viability gap.

Conclusion

The scheme is a welcome initiative, providing workable solutions to some of the key barriers currently depressing construction of build-to-sell apartments. It will not only contribute to the increase of the housing supply but will have an important role in shifting society's perception of apartment living. If implemented efficiently it should assist in re-balancing city centre demographics, making them affordable places to live for all sections of society. Good planning and meeting amenity requirements in the proximity of developments will play an important role in winning society's approval and will directly contribute to creating sustainable communities in our urban areas.

T: 01 8280 684

E: joanna.bannon@fieldfisher.com W: www.fieldfisher.com