‘No spin’ in 46,000 housing unit figure

The Department of the Environment has insisted it is not misleading the public with false promises to solve the housing crisis, despite internal correspondence saying officials are “spinning” information on the space available to build new homes.

Mon, 23 Mar, 2015 - 00:00

Fiachra Ó Cionnaith

Labour deputy leader Alan Kelly’s department was forced to issue the denial after weekend reports claimed it has put forward incorrect figures on how much land has been zoned for housing units in Dublin.

In internal communications between the Department of Environment and Department of Finance last September, an official for Mr Kelly wrote: “We have been spinning that there is sufficient land with planning permission/zoned for housing circa 46,000 units, but the reality is this figure includes land not yet zoned for housing and without planning permission.”

The official said that, in his view, “the real figure” is space for 30,000 homes in Dublin, a “quite tight supply of land for new housing”, and that the higher number is misrepresenting the space available for properties.

Despite this, two months later, in November 2014, Mr Kelly said a housing task force had identified enough zoned land to build 46,000 new homes in the capital.

However, while the news has sparked claims a “culture” of spin is enveloping the Coalition, a department spokesman insisted other than an “ill-advised” use of the word “spinning”, all of the information is correct.

“The story refers to the use of the word ‘spinning’, this was ill-advised and inappropriate as all information published in this matter is correct,” said the spokesman.

“There is sufficient land zoned in Dublin to build 46,000 homes as published by the Dublin Housing Supply Task Force. The 46,000 figure is broken down into 21,000 with planning permission and 25,000 for land that is zoned but without planning, as indicated by the minister last November.

“It is likely that the 21,000 figure with planning permissions has increased to close to 30,000 with new permissions coming on board. The Government has set aside some €4bn to deal with social housing provision out to 2020.”

Fianna Fáil environment spokesman Barry Cowen last night said Mr Kelly “knowingly” overstated the number of houses Government plans to build.

He said the Government has become “obsessed with spin” and the issue is “seeping into the civil service”, a “very serious development”.

“There is no doubt Minister Kelly is under pressure to delivery on this housing strategy as the number of families in emergency accommodation has risen steadily despite promises to address the crisis,” said Mr Cowen.

“One of the cornerstones of that plan was the construction of tens of thousands of additional housing units. Now we learn those figures have been over-inflated, and there is not even planning permission for many of the proposed builds.

“This is an extremely serious issue, not only because it appears the minister was over-inflating the figures to curry favour with the public, but also because the civil service appears to have been used to fudge the numbers.”