Limerick and Waterford on track to exceed housing targets, Oireachtas hears

“The target for Limerick is to deliver 2693 homes by 2026,” Limerick City and County Council chief executive Pat Daly said.

Local authorities in Limerick and Waterford have both said they’re on track to exceed their housing targets under the Government’s landmark Housing for All plan but conceded there were a number of challenges facing housing delivery in the coming years.

While both agreed it can take four years from conception to delivery of new social homes, judicial reviews taken against such developments can add years to this build time.

The Oireachtas Housing Committee heard on Tuesday from senior officials at Limerick and Waterford councils on their housing delivery, who cited difficulties in delivering housing in their counties including the knock-on effects of Covid, inflation and labour shortages.

The committee heard that both councils had made progress in key areas. In the case of Limerick, it has been addressing vacant and derelict units and carried out a compulsory purchase order (CPO) on 145 properties in the last three years.

“The target for Limerick is to deliver 2693 homes by 2026,” Limerick City and County Council chief executive Pat Daly said. “Currently, we have 1220 homes approved in the system at various stages, for example, feasibility, planning, pre-tender. This is 45% of our overall five-year target approved at this point in year 1 of Housing for All.” 

Waterford

In the case of Waterford, it said it has made progress in the repair and lease scheme. Waterford City and County Council chief executive, Michael Walsh, said the council has exceeded its target on social housing in recent years.

“We’d be broadly comfortable we have a pipeline to exceed the target in the next couple of years,” he said. “The need for affordable housing for households who do not qualify for social housing but who are not in a position to purchase in the private market is well documented nationally and the situation in Waterford is the same. 

"In fact, as a coastal county, Waterford has certain affordability constraints, particularly in popular coastal and seaside towns.” 

Green Party TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh said that in the areas of one-bedroom apartments, it is one area where “demand is seriously outstripping supply”. He asked if the council was looking at larger apartment blocks as a means of addressing this demand.

Mr Walsh said that there were issues around the cost of constructing apartments, compared with the cost of building a house. “When you want density, four-to-five floors, you’d be looking at construction of a two-bed at €400,000,” he said, compared to €300,000 for a semi-detached house down the road.

Affordable homes

In terms of the delivery of affordable homes, Waterford City and County Council said it is looking more at a household’s income when determining these levels, from an annual gross income of around €50,000 to a higher end of €75,000.

In Limerick, the difficulty in determining the cost of affordable homes comes as “market prices are low and costs are high”, the Oireachtas committee heard.