A report from the Housing Commission said the Government’s housing policy needs a “radical” reset, and has called for a ramping up of the State’s housing supply.
It has made a total of 76 recommendations to the Government, varying from the cost and quality of housing, affordability of home purchase for first-time buyers, social housing and rural housing.
It said a new oversight body for housing is needed as well as a greater role for the State in funding housing.
The Housing Commission was set up under the Programme for Government to examine issues such as tenure, standards, sustainability and quality-of-life issues within housing.
In a leaked report, the Commission condemned the Government for spending a huge amount of money in areas such as long-term leasing, which it said has very poor outcomes for the State.
The Housing Commission said that the housing issues have arisen because of the failure to successfully treat housing as a “critical and economic priority, evident in a lack of consistency in housing policy”.
“Only a radical strategic reset of housing policy will work,” it added.
“A major issue of concern to the commission is Ireland’s housing deficit. It is critical that this housing deficit is addressed through emergency action.
“Coupled with this is the need for a step-change increase in the level of housing supply on an ongoing basis.
“There should be a targeted increase in the proportion of social and cost-rental housing to 20% of the national stock, ensuring an appropriate tenure mix.
“A long-term commitment to stable levels of public financing will also be crucial, supplementing the funding coming from private sources.
“Ireland as a nation is changing at pace. The Irish public is diverse, with a growing number of minority groups.
“A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach will not work. We need to take account of housing strategy, delivery and management.
“A focus on expressing our collective aspirations for society, inclusive of supporting diversity and environmental goals, is needed, embodying shared values that deliver for our people.
“Our analysis shows that, while the specific details can be complex, the overall strategy to successfully achieve a sustainable housing system is not complicated.”
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan defended the Government’s housing policies in the wake of the leaked Housing Commission report.
“It’s complicated, it’s not just a numbers game,” he told RTÉ radio’s News at One.
Mr Ryan said he had not yet read the report, but pointed out that the Commission had been set up by the Government.
This was the Government itself asking outside experts to come forward with ways in which “we can go further and go faster.
“If there are good suggestions from this report in how we can accelerate and go for that, then I very much welcome it. But first we have to read it as it was leaked.”
Not necessarily every idea or recommendation will be implemented, he said. But the Commission had been established “to do exactly this, to come forward with ideas and proposals as how we can build faster and quicker.”
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the report is a “damning indictment” of the “catastrophic failure” of the Government’s housing policy.
“The Government’s policy is a catastrophic failure when it comes to dealing with the most serious crisis this country faces, which is the inability of the Government to put a secure and affordable roof over the heads of hundreds of thousands of working people and young people and others who are impacted by the housing crisis,” he said.
“The Government have failed disastrously to take seriously what the Housing Commission is now rightly saying is a crisis that needs an emergency response.”
Social Democrats’ spokesman for housing Cian O’Callaghan said the report is further evidence that the Government’s housing targets are “completely inadequate and hopelessly out of date”.
“The Government knows this and I’ve known this for years. The Taoiseach Simon Harris has admitted it, he knows it and the dogs on the streets know it,” the TD for Dublin Bay North said.
“What we’re seeing is that the Government, rather than updating the targets to the level that is needed, it’s content on sitting on old targets in the hope that they’ll meet old and out-of-date targets.
“That shows complete lack of urgency given the housing crisis that we’re in. We’re calling on the government to publish the Housing Commission report urgently.
“They shouldn’t be sitting on that until after the elections and we’re calling them to urgently update the housing target that is needed.”
Labour Senator Mark Wall said the state’s “over-reliance” on the private market has to come to an end.
“We need to go back to building council houses on council land and that’s where the Government needs to get to,” he added.
“The clapping on the back for 30,000 houses has got to stop and we have to see radical change in relation to housing policy with this Government and getting to the figures that have been announced today.”
A protest over housing is to take place this Saturday in Dublin. – Additional reporting: Vivienne Clarke
