Housing minister drops plans for €1m social homes
The government has been urged to abandon its 'expensive' approach to social housing and to fund councils directly after it emerged that the cost of building some local authority units has soared to more than €1m.
Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin was speaking after it emerged the Department of Housing pulled the plug on the construction of almost 500 social homes in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Sligo after the cost of each home rocketed to over €1m.
And the delivery of almost 3,000 new social homes – 2,000 of which are in the capital – will now be delayed after Housing Minister James Browne cancelled several projects about to begin construction over cost concerns. James Browne Pic: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos
The Construction Industry Federation said the move could threaten the public-private partnership (PPP) model and have implications for major projects such as Metro North.
Mr Ó Broin told Extra.ie: 'As far back as 2019, Sinn Féin warned that the use of public-private partnerships for social housing delivery did not represent value for money.'
The Dublin Mid-West TD said it is 'somewhat ironic that the Government is now collapsing PPP Bundle 3 on value-for-money grounds. 'As a result, up to 3,000 much-needed social homes are delayed'. Eoin Ó Broin. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire
He added: 'The Government should never have used this model for social delivery. They should abandon this expensive approach entirely and fund the councils directly to deliver these 3,000 homes as a matter of urgency.'
Housing Minister James Browne yesterday said he is 'determined to deliver' the social homes.
He told Extra.ie: 'We are assessing the quickest way to do this while ensuring value for taxpayers' money. I am cutting down on the jungle of red tape that is leading to delays and exceptionally high costs.' Rory Hearne. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire
However, Social Democrats housing spokesman Rory Hearne said the Coalition 'has gone from incompetence to sabotage'.
He told Extra.ie: 'In a bizarre, almost GUBU moment, the Government has suspended a delivery project that was going to build almost 500 social homes, almost 200 of which are in my constituency, through public-private partnerships. They were ready to start on site in the coming weeks but the minister has pulled the plug on them. Almost 3,000 social homes are now in jeopardy.
'In fact, the Government spent €8m on developing these projects. Contractors had almost been appointed. The not-for-profit housing bodies had been brought on board. It is absolutely confounding as to how this decision was made. It is beyond comprehension.'
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín added: 'This is another example of drift in how we do housing. There is a need for urgent practical reform, such as ending VAT on houses, that will end this vicious cycle of indolent incompetence.'
The latest housing setback comes as the Government is under increasing pressure to remove planning roadblocks that are hindering its pre-election promise to deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030. Pressure is switching from Mr Browne to Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers, whose Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce is due to deliver its first report over the coming weeks.
The Coalition is also under pressure over the delayed implementation of the 906-page planning reform legislation, the Planning and Development Act 2024.
Figures supplied by Mr Browne in response to parliamentary queries from Mr Ó Broin reveal just 77 sections of the legislation have so far been introduced. It means that, eight months after the Bill passed, 560 sections of the legislation have still not commenced.
Commenting on the chaotic planning, Mr Ó Broin said: 'The crazy thing is, the problem with the Planning Bill of 2000 was that it was too complex. The previous government's solution to this was to replace it with a 900-page Bill with 700 commencements, 200 of which were rushed through.'
He added: 'It was all guff and spin. It has been progressing at a snail's pace since. We have ended up with a Frankenstein's monster of unworkable and contradictory legislation. We asked two years ago: will a Bill that is nearly 1,000 pages long resolve this? And we have our answer now.'
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