Approved housing bodies regulation
Deputy Sean Fleming presses for promised legislation to statutorily regulate approved housing bodies, saying the Government lacks proper oversight of their output. The Minister replies that social housing delivery will rise to about 7,900 homes this year and that approved bodies are already regulated voluntarily through the Housing Agency.
No, hold on. Deputy Sean Fleming is next. His question must be relevant to the programme for Government or promised legislation.
Comment on this
I raise with the Taoiseach the housing crisis, specifically promised legislation relating to approved housing bodies. Perhaps the Taoiseach will take a moment to check the record. He may have misled the Dáil a little while ago when answering a question from Deputy Micheál Martin on social housing. The Taoiseach said 8,000 social houses were to be delivered this year, half of which were to be built by local authorities. He may wish to check the record because if that is what he said, it is not the truth of the matter.
Comment on this
As the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government knows, the target for all local authorities this year is to build 2,400 houses. That is what the Department has said.
There is promised legislation on statutory regulation of approved housing bodies. These are a key component to delivery on the housing crisis. Since there is no statutory regulation in this area, the Minister does not know how many houses are being built by these bodies. There is only a voluntary code of regulation in place. When will we see statutory regulation of approved housing bodies?
Comment on this
I will comment on the first point raised by Deputy Fleming on the Taoiseach's comments. The stock of social housing will increase by approximately 7,900 homes this year. A little over half of those homes will be social housing homes.
The Deputy asked about approved housing bodies. These bodies currently operate on a voluntary basis in terms of regulation with the Housing Agency. That does not mean we do not have sight of what they are building. They are part of our programme of delivery because we have gone not for one stream but for a number of different streams to deliver social housing. We are progressing legislation for the statutory regulation of approved housing bodies and it is a priority for the Department.