Housing Commission's report will be published, says Taoiseach

Taoiseach Simon Harris said the Government needed time to consider the Housing Commission's full report. Picture: Brian Lawless

The Housing Commission's full report will be published this week, the Taoiseach has said.

Speaking in the Dáil, Simon Harris told the opposition that the Government needed time to consider the 83 recommendations contained in the report.

Among its recommendations is one to establish a Housing Delivery Oversight Executive which would "drive co-ordination across legislation, regulation, and administrative practices".

The report also calls for increased investment in training and qualifications in the housing sector, housing stock that is "responsive to the needs of the public", a "critical mass of social affordable and cost rental housing to be added to the stock", and greater centralisation and co-ordination of infrastructure.

It further calls for the establishment of a land price register in order to increase transparency around land transactions, more participation by the public in plan-making processes, and the delivery of enabling infrastructure in advance of housing construction.

There are recommendations to "take urgent action" to ensure that the Greater Dublin Drainage scheme is delivered by 2030, that "urgent action" is taken to deliver a water supply project for the east and midlands, and that a "set of principles" upon which a "fair and efficient system" for Land Value Sharing is established. This would see landowners or developers forced to pay up to half the increase in the value of land which is rezoned for housing. Development should be regionally balanced “at the expense of Dublin”, the report says.

The report also calls for a change in how housing is funded, calling for a “a stable funding anchor that is constant in nature” with an assurance of "diverse sources of finance" to increase housing output. It adds that the State should "explore the option of setting up a specific private savings fund that can be used to assist in the funding of housing".

It also says that the State should play “both a direct and indirect role in funding housing for the purposes of scale”.

On the cost and quality of housing, the report says that the State should support the delivery of "standard" house and apartment types which would "drive efficiency, reduce costs, and support viability". It adds that there should be standardised measurements of housing costs and a comprehensive survey of the condition of homes every five years.

On housing payments, it calls for a reform of Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to become a medium-term, rather than a short-term measure. Rent paid to approved housing bodies should also be set at "cost recovery rates", it adds.

Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said that the report has showed that the Government's housing plans were not working.

“They're accusing both this Government and its predecessors of failing to treat housing as a critical social and economic priority," he said. "And they also go on to say that housing has one of the highest levels of public expenditure, yet one of the poorest outcomes."