Housing officials ‘confident’ that 30,000 homes can be delivered in 2023

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Government officials have said they are “confident” that housing targets for 2023 will be met, despite reports that construction has slowed.

Officials from the Department of Housing appeared before an Oireachtas committee to discuss the Government’s Housing for All plan, published almost two years ago.

An average target of 33,000 new houses a year are to be built between now and 2030 under Housing for All.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said there were 29,851 new homes built last year, exceeding the target of 24,600.

But figures published on Monday showed 7,433 social homes were built, falling short of its 9,000 target.

Ministers have also said that given Ireland’s population is higher than the CSO figures the targets are based on, it would need to change its annual figures to meet demand.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has suggested Ireland is short of 250,000 homes, which is contributing to inflated house prices and rents.

Feargal O’Coigligh, an assistant secretary at the Department of Housing’s housing policy legislation and governance division, told the housing committee that recent research suggested the targets would be met.

“I think we’re confident that that will happen,” he said, when asked by Green Party TD Francis Noel Duffy about the delivery of almost 30,000 homes last year.

“There are different indications out there, different organisations have given projections somewhat lower than that. And there’s some contradictory figures in terms of commencement slowdown, planning permissions slowdown.

“On the other hand, there was an interesting report from BNP Paribas this morning. They’re reporting construction companies hiring more workers, order books filling up, which would suggest that actually they will deliver and that there is a bank of permissions there utilisable – although there is a slowdown in commencements, a slowdown in permissions, there’s actually an existing bank of permissions that can be activated.

“So I think we’d been confident that we would we would meet, match the figures (from last year) this year.”

The Irish real estate arm of BNP Paribas, an international banking group, said that although Ireland’s construction activity fell slightly in March, employment and input buying were all sustained, and all indicators of the market’s future health had “switched from negative to unambiguously positive”.

The Housing for All target for 2023 is set at 29,000 new-builds, made up of 9,100 social homes, 5,500 affordable and cost rental homes, and 14,400 for private renters and owners.

Asked by Sinn Fein TD Eoin Ó Broin whether the shortfall of social housing would be added to targets in future years, officials said that was the aim.

Housing official Aine Stapleton replied: “So now that we have the 2022 statistics bedded down, we’ll be engaging with the local authorities about the delivery of those targets over the period of the plan.

“So we would have an expectation that the targets will be delivered over the period of the plan, and we’ll be looking to a review of the housing delivery action plans in that light.

“We will certainly be looking at that five-year overall level of ambition for each local authority because that was specifically linked to the social housing need in their area and as set out by local authorities themselves in their plans.

“So we will be seeking to make up ground over the period of Housing for All, that could certainly be our ambition.”