May 2020: Social Housing Update

It was revealed last week that fewer than 6,000 new social homes were built in 2019. The 5,771 figure for newly-built units falls far below the Government’s targets for the second consecutive year.

The current action plan on housing and homelessness, as set out under Rebuilding Ireland, commits to the delivery of 50,000 additional social homes by 2021 and a large proportion of this is new development. The newly-formed Housing Alliance, which is made up of six of the largest Approved Housing Bodies, or AHBs, in Ireland (Clúid Housing, Circle Voluntary Housing, Co-operative Housing Ireland, Oaklee Housing, Respond, Tuath Housing), held an online political briefing earlier this month for members of the Oireachtas. Amongst the priority issues highlighted during this briefing were a speedy return to building activities and maintaining and increasing capital budgets to lessen the impact of Covid-19. The Housing Alliance is quickly emerging as a body of influence given that the six members are collectively responsible for over 22,000 social homes across the country.

It is still too early to assess the true impact of the pandemic and resulting restrictions on housing delivery, and on social housing in particular. In the early days of the shutdown, construction works continued on approximately 1,000 social homes at 35 priority housing sites across the country. The majority of these sites are in Dublin and Cork, with developments in Kilkenny, Waterford, Westmeath, Carlow, Kildare, Louth, Meath, Tipperary and Wicklow all being deemed ‘essential’.

Most recently published data from the Department of Housing shows that of the 5,771 new social builds delivered last year, 2,271 were delivered by local authorities with Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) delivering 2,174. A further 1,326 homes were delivered privately through Part V as social and affordable housing. A reported 1,161 new social homes were delivered through the social housing leasing scheme, with 2,772 acquired from banks. Significantly, a further 303 were brought back into use through the renovation of vacant houses (vacanthomes.ie), which falls under Pillar 5 of Rebuilding Ireland – arguably the most neglected part of the overall housing puzzle.

The Housing Department has faced robust criticism this month from opposition party members and Property Industry Ireland (PII) Chairman, David O’Connor, likened the debate on housing to “an adversarial Punch and Judy show”, in a letter to the Irish Times calling for practical solutions. He points to an “excess of defensiveness for the most part” and appeals for the palpable anger for a generation excluded from the market to be replaced by credible action through housing delivery:

 “We cannot afford to continue to set housing policy without informed debate and expect to arrive at solutions that accelerate all housing output. Only a whole-of-government approach, following full stakeholder engagement through a task force for housing, with a focused programme for delivery, holds any prospect of resolution of this long-running systemic issue.”

For our part, Castlehaven Finance continues to deliver in this sector. Since the closure of the country, our team has provided finance for three social housing developments in Wicklow, Meath and Galway, which will provide 157 much-needed new homes.

About Castlehaven Finance: Established in 2014, Castlehaven Finance has provided development finance to developers, builders, approved housing bodies and project owners across Ireland in excess of €785 million. With offices in Dublin and Cork, the company currently employs close to 20 people. The team at Castlehaven Finance have been involved in the delivery of more than 3,500 new homes, both private and social, across the State. To discuss your project requirements, contact the team at www.castlehavenfinance.com