Over 20,200 Households Benefit From Housing Program

Michael Finneran, T.D., Minister for Housing and Local Services has published his Department's Annual Housing Statistics Bulletin 2008.  The Bulletin reports on the broad spectrum of housing activity which took place over the course of last year, including the outputs achieved through the various social and affordable housing programs.

"Despite the significant challenges in the housing sector during an economically very turbulent 2008, activity under the various housing programs last year has provided for the accommodation needs of over 20,200 households to be met, an increase of 10% on 2007", the Minister announced. 

These included 15,467 households assisted through local authority or voluntary & co-operative houses, 4,567 affordable houses delivered and a further 189 households who received mortgage allowance towards the purchase of their own homes. 

The Minister also highlighted how 2008 saw continuing emphasis on meeting the housing needs of the most vulnerable sections of society, citing the publication of the Government's new homelessness strategy, The Way Home, as a clear example of this. 

He also emphasised the priority attached to improving housing quality, and the environmental performance of housing, through a range of regeneration and improvement programs.

Looking to the future, the Minister indicated that in light of the inevitably more limited resources available to Government, he has been progressing a considerable restructuring of the Social Housing Investment Programme by giving priority to a range of creative and flexible measures. 

"The most significant part of that restructuring is the use of long term lease arrangements for the provision of social housing," he continued. "My Department, in co-operation with the local authorities and the voluntary and co-operative housing sector, is actively working to secure some 2,000 units of accommodation under these arrangements this year. 

"This will ensure that we can meet significantly more housing needs than would be possible if we relied on traditional construction and acquisition programmes alone.  Given the constrained resource environment that we will continue to face in the years ahead, leasing and other innovative arrangements for meeting housing needs will assume even greater importance," the Minister commented. 

Analysis of first-time buyers, from data provided by financial institutions, shows that 41% of all new house mortgages were taken out by first-time buyers who were typically aged 31 years of age; with 23% borrowing 100% mortgages; and the most typical loan being for between 31-35 years. 

The majority of first-time buyers pay on average 23% less than the average price for a new house, with 65% of first-time buyer's houses nationally priced under €300,000.

The results of the national inventory of residential zoned serviced land also showed that there are more than 14,100 hectares of residentially zoned serviced land with an estimated yield of 462,700 housing units. This represents a sizeable increase on the June 2004 figures of 12,500 hectares of serviced residentially zoned land nationally.