State-owned land freed up for cheaper housing

ADDITIONAL State- owned land around the country is to be made available for affordable housing, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern confirmed yesterday.

This follows his announcement that 309 acres in Dublin city and counties Meath and Kildare are to be released immediately for housing.

Trade unionists welcomed the development, ICTU general secretary David Begg saying building on the 309 acres would go half way towards an objective of constructing 10,000 affordable houses over a three-year period.

"The ICTU sees this as a flagship project as part of the Sustaining Progress agenda. We wanted to take one serious problem affecting the Irish people and to crack it," he told the closing session of the ICTU conference, in Tralee, Co Kerry.

The Irish Home Builders Association (IHBA), which had been seeking the release of such land, also welcomed the move to increase the volume of affordable housing.

But an association spokesman said a number of blockages must be removed before substantial progress is made.

"The IHBA is calling on the Government to take this opportunity to streamline the whole planning process including An Bord Pleanála. It is an absolute necessity that the planning process is re-examined with a view to reducing complexity and bureaucracy," the spokesman said.

The Government, meanwhile, had come under fire from ICTU delegates during the week the fact that so many people could no longer afford to house themselves being one of the main areas of contention.

However, when Mr Ahern addressed the conference yesterday, he was accorded a warm reception arising out of yesterday's announcement.

The Taoiseach said the Government shared the resolve of trade unionists to build more affordable housing.

Land owned by the Office of Public Works at Jamestown Road and Infirmary Road, in Dublin, will be immediately released for housing. Also, the land will be provided at McKee Barracks, Kildare, and Gormanstown, Co Meath.

Mr Ahern said further State-owned lands will also be used for the purpose and specific proposals are to be submitted to the Government by the end of September.

He said the programme would be carried out in conjunction with Dublin City Council and other local authorities.

"We want local authorities to have land at an affordable rate and this allows local authorities and whatever other agencies are involved to control the price of houses," he said.

"We want to ensure that house prices will be within the range of ordinary families. This programme is very much designed for people who need affordable houses. The houses are not for rent and not for speculation."

The houses are intended for first-time buyers, people who want to put their first step on the housing ladder, probably in their 20s.

Local authorities, Mr Ahern said, would decide on who got the houses and the houses were not intended for people on council waiting lists. He also said the initiative would not take money away from other social housing programmes on which €1.7 billion is being spent this year.