Housing, Local Government and Heritage | The extent to which the public housing programme is progressing in north Kildare, with particular reference to the issue of homeless families

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Local Government and Heritage the extent to which the public housing programme is progressing in north Kildare, with particular reference to the issue of homeless families; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 new homes per year, over the next decade. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes, to be facilitated by local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies, the Land Development Agency and through First Home, a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.

All local authorities have published their Housing Delivery Action Plans on their websites, including their proposed public housing delivery for the period 2022-26. Local authorities, including Kildare County Council, are being funded to significantly increase their delivery of social housing as part of Housing for All and a strong social housing construction pipeline is already in place for local authorities and approved housing bodies both nationally and in Kildare. As a result, significant progress is being made to deliver the ambitious targets contained in Housing for All and my Department is working closely with the local authorities, approved housing bodies and other stakeholders to accelerate the delivery of social and affordable housing.

The Social Housing Construction Status Report (CSR) that my Department publishes on a quarterly basis, provides details of social housing developments and their location that have been completed, are under construction or are progressing through the various stages of the design and tender processes. The most recent publication was for Quarter 4 of 2023. All CSRs are available at the following link: https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/cb885-social-housing-construction-projects-status-reports/ A version of the CSR file can also be downloaded for analysis of completions, locations, approvals stage etc. at this link: https://data.gov.ie/dataset/social-housing-construction-status-report-q4-2023 

In areas of North Kildare, such as Kilcock, Maynooth and Leixlip over 350 new build social homes, excluding Part V home have been either delivered or in the pipeline for delivery. Ultimately, it is a matter for Kildare County Council to identify the areas of the County where the social housing need exists and respond appropriately to that need using the wide range of initiatives available from my Department.