The Irish Council for Social Housing has said its members helped deliver four in 10 new social homes last year.

Housing associations provided one-third of the total amount of long-term social housing last year, amid calls for more government help in providing increased housing in future.

Bedsits may be on the way back as the Government examines a number of measures to solve the housing crisis, writes By Fiachra Ó Cionnaith.

Bedsits may be on the way back as the Government examines a number of measures to solve the housing crisis.

A social housing campaign group has urged the Government to use up to 700 state-owned land banks to build tens of thousands of new homes in a bid to tackle the surging property crisis.

Also, 80% of housing association tenants are happy with the services they receive.

Housing support groups have broadly welcomed the Government’s housing plan, which has pledged to ramp up social housing supply, incentivise developers, and ease rental pressures.

Organisations in the social housing and construction sectors have backed the plan, but warned that it must be delivered no matter what government takes power in future.

A lack of sites for development is the most significant barrier to building more social housing.

A lack of sites for development is the biggest barrier to the construction of social housing, according to the Irish Council for Social Housing.

A new plan by government to clear the 90,000 waiting list for social housing has been welcomed by support groups, but with a warning that much more work is needed to ease the crisis.

The Government is being urged to do more to make affordable housing available, including sourcing private finance.

HOUSING waiting lists have increased massively over the past few years as a result of the housing crisis and a change in the State’s approach to providing local authority housing.

Recently, it emerged that legal proceedings are being brought to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of Irish tenants drawn from around 130,000 low income households.

Over 96,000 people are waiting for social housing - and the Housing Minister is being asked to tackle that number.

The Government is making €32m in funding available for social housing.

THE National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) has defended its plans to introduce a deferred payment scheme which would insure buyers of NAMA-controlled property against the threat of negative equity for a five-year period.

SOCIAL housing groups have lambasted the current and previous governments after it emerged an “unprecedented” 98,318 households are on waiting lists for homes across the country.

OLDER people will be badly hit by the halving of Government funding for special needs accommodation.

UP to 1,400 homes could be opened to people who need them under a scheme proposed by the Irish Council for Social Housing yesterday.

About 270,000 jobs could be created by 2016 under Government plans to boost spending on enterprise, education, the environment and public transport, it was claimed today.

IT will be impossible to deliver the Government’s mental health reform programme without an easing of the nurses’ recruitment ban, Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, John Maloney said yesterday.

The Irish Council for Social Housing is calling on the Government to obtain 10,000 unsold homes from National Asset Management Agency (Nama) - for social housing use.

The Irish Council for Social Housing claims that social housing could help NAMA take thousands of unsold homes off the property market while providing accommodation for those in need.

A SERIOUS blow was dealt to social housing last night with the decision by the Government to cut funds for those most desperate for homes by at least €140 million.

The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) today called for increased spending on social housing, saying that it should be prioritised as an investment that offered "an economic and social return".

The Department of the Environment has announced details of more than €1.6m in grants for voluntary housing organisations this year.

NEW social housing projects are setting a challenge for the private sector, it was claimed yesterday.

TÁNAISTE and Health Minister Mary Harney has promised that a €150 million healthcare package for the elderly announced in this week’s Budget will focused on caring for people at home.

The Irish Council for Social Housing has rejected the notion that housing estates containing a mix of social, affordable and private dwellings are unworkable.

The Irish Council for Social Housing has rejected the notion that housing estates containing a mix of social, affordable and private dwellings are unworkable.

An umbrella group representing voluntary housing organisations has warned that a fall-off in the availability of State land is threatening the expansion of social housing in Ireland.

ONE of the country’s main housing federations has warned people who are in need of social housing to register with their local authority before March 31.

The Irish Council for Social Housing has called on the Government to allocate an additional €100m to reach its social housing targets for this year.

THE number of people on the housing waiting lists will rise above 60,000 next year because spending on housing will be below the construction inflation level, social housing groups warned yesterday.

A CRISIS in housing for the elderly is looming, a social housing conference was told yesterday.

PROPERLY planned social housing will bring life to local communities and help banish their image of problems with vandalism, drugs and alcohol, a housing group said yesterday.

The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) is calling on the Government to undertake an overhaul of the homeless strategy.

The Irish Council for Social Housing is calling for more building land to be made available to meet demand for accommodation.