Almost €35bn needed to build enough social homes to house people on waiting lists, study finds

In Cork City, the study estimates there would need to be almost 6,000 new social homes to meet the ongoing need in the area. File picture

Almost €35bn would be needed to build enough social housing to accommodate those on waiting lists and accessing the Housing Assistance Payment (Hap), a new Oireachtas study has found.

The Parliamentary Budget Office has said there are currently 115,425 households who have an "ongoing need" for social housing, including the 58,824 on local authority waiting lists and the 56,601 accessing Hap.

The study found there would be a cost to the State of €34.95bn to build new permanent social housing to accommodate all those with an ongoing need for housing as of the end of last year.

Within the 115,425 households set out in the report, it estimates there is a minimum of 235,659 people who have an ongoing need for housing. This is 4.4% of the total population of the country.

The Oireachtas study has also estimated the Government would need to increase the existing social housing stock by 56% to accommodate every household with an ongoing need.

It also found Fingal County Council was the only local authority in the country which currently had more people seeking social housing than are currently living in social housing.

Study has also estimated the Government would need to increase the existing social housing stock by 56% to accommodate every household with an ongoing need.

The report has estimated that the local authority would need to more than double its existing social housing levels to accommodate all those with an ongoing need. This is equivalent to an additional 9,682 social houses.

In Cork City, the study estimates there would need to be almost 6,000 new social homes to meet the ongoing need in the area. This is the same requirement as in Cork county.

The report also details where there is the highest levels of ongoing need across the country, finding Galway City Council has the most at 11.8% of households within its area.

This is followed by Dublin City Council on 10.4%.

It also found 37.4% of applicants for Hap and social housing combined were over the age of 50. Of Hap recipients alone, 12.2% of households were single and over 50 years old.

The Parliamentary Budget Office has also recommended a detailed set of statistics related to all forms of social housing — both new build and existing — should be published on an annual basis.

It comes amid new figures that show the Government spent more than €2bn on Hap over the last four years, as the amount being paid per tenancy is rising.

The figures, published last week, show the State paid out over €537m in the last year on rent supports for those eligible for social housing.

This is in contrast to the €380m paid out in 2019 and the €152m in 2017.