08/03/2004

Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.

ACTION PLANS FOR SOCIAL AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING 2004 to 2008

Mr Noel Ahern T.D., Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal today, (08 March 2004) announced a major new development in the planning and delivery of social and affordable housing measures.

Speaking to the social partners at the Housing Forum* today, the Minister announced that local authorities are being asked to develop new five year Action Plans to deliver across the full range of social and affordable housing programmes and supporting measures for the period 2004 to 2008. The plans are to be submitted to the Minister by the end of May and agreed by the Autumn of this year.

The Minister said "these Action Plans will allow for the effective allocation of resources by the Department over the next five years and most importantly, will ensure that resources are used to best effect in the long term by tackling real need, building sustainable communities and breaking cycles of disadvantage and dependency ". The Minister referred to the importance placed in the Sustaining Progress Agreement on housing and the need to ensure the best use of the resources available to meet different needs.

The Minister added that there had been substantial growth in investment in housing. The capital spending provision in 2004 at over €1.8 billion is four times the level of investment in 1997. The Government's decision to introduce five-year multi-annual capital investment programmes provides an important opportunity to ensure a structured basis for the planning and delivering of all social and affordable housing programmes, the Minister said.

The Minister highlighted the range of measures now available to address the broad spectrum of housing need. Furthermore, in delivering these measures local authorities could utilise new arrangements with the voluntary and co-operative housing sector and with the private sector through Part V of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 and also public private partnership arrangements, as well as directly providing social and affordable housing. In overall terms, the spending in 2004 will allow for the needs of over 12,000 households to be met through these various measures compared to less than 8,500 in 1998.

Given the variety of needs and the greater range of tools available to meet these needs, the Minister said "I consider the development of these Action Plans for social and affordable housing will empower local authorities to develop programmes aimed at the priority needs in their areas and ensure a co-ordinated response across all housing services".

ENDS