An update from Joan on the Government’s work in the area of housing

The current and very difficult issue of family homelessness is one that is being driven by a shortage of housing supply and pressures in the private rented market.

The long-term solution to homelessness is to increase the supply of homes for social housing. We’re doing that through the Social Housing Strategy. It aims to build 35,000 new social housing units, at a cost of €3.8 billion, and use up to 75,000 private sector units to meet housing needs through local authority housing schemes.

But we’re making progress already. In 2015, some 13,000 units were delivered across all programmes, including build, buying, leasing, RAS, HAP, voluntary bodies and voids.

The Minister for the Environment will be publishing a report in the coming weeks outlining how those 13,000 units were delivered.

We’re also working to end the scandal of boarded up houses lying vacant – last year 2,700 void housing units were opened up again and returned to use for families to live in. 1,050 of those were in the Dublin City Council area, where housing demand is greatest.

For people on rent supplement who find themselves at risk of homelessness, I have given local community welfare officers the discretion to increase the level of rent supplement allowable to help people stay in their homes. So far 6,000 people have been helped in this way, 4,500 of those were in 2015.

The Housing Assistance Payment is now up and running in 18 local authority areas supporting over 6,000 households since it was introduced.

And the number of secured tenancies by those presenting as homeless is going up, while the number of people sleeping rough was down by nearly a half (46%) in 2015.

We’re making progress but we’ve lots more to do. Thanks to the economic recovery, we now have the revenue to invest in housing and other essential public services. Labour will continue to stand up for better services and more affordable homes for our people.