Bid to boost social housing ‘places burden on State’

A boom-time bid to boost affordable and social housing has ended up dumping a large financial burden on local authorities in the slump, a new review has found.

The Part V initiative obliged builders of large housing schemes to provide councils with up to 20% of sites for low-cost housing, but is now holding back the property market, according to the report commissioned by Housing Minister Jan O’Sullivan.

The probe found most of the interest groups surveyed wanted the system radially reformed, while some called for its abolition as a way of boosting development.