Latest news with #HousingForAll
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Department finds 'positive indicators' of increasing housing supply, committee to hear
The head of the department of housing says that 'positive indicators' have emerged in terms of increasing housing supply, but that 'major challenges' remain. The department's secretary general Graham Doyle will on Thursday tell the Public Accounts Committee that in 2023 the number of new homes delivered was up 10% on that delivered in 2022, exceeding the Government's overarching Housing For All plan by nearly 13%, with 32,695 properties completed over the 12 months. He will add that 41,224 planning permissions were granted for new homes in 2023. However, he will also acknowledge the ongoing issues with delivering adequate supply for Ireland's population. 'At a broader level we continue to see major challenges around increased demand, increased costs and complex issues around unlocking supply at the pace and scale required. "This will remain an area of acute focus for the Department,' Mr Doyle is expected to say. Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy is expected to tell the committee his agency has established that the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive provided a number of funding advances to the Peter McVerry trust between March and September 2023 without the Government's approval. After it emerged that there were serious issues with the financial fundamentals of the trust in 2023, the Government was forced to bail the charity out to the tune of €15m. Mr McCarthy will also tell the committee that while €2m in normal funding provided to the trust was approved by the department at the same time, €5.3m was provided by the executive with none of the advances approved. The trust will not be present at the hearing, having declined an invitation to attend the PAC for a second time citing the investigations into its finances which are still in train. Read More
Irish Independent
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Another vacant creche in Wexford estate as questions are asked of council – ‘What are the legalities of this?'
'Those homes have never been lived in and the creche has never been used,' she said. 'It's my understanding that it's a requirement for the developers to provide this essential service for the community. But the creche wasn't utilised, instead it's left there while we have serious childcare issues across the district. "What are the legalities of this? What can we do as a local authority?' Accepting that there are 'a number' of creches in estates across the county which haven't been developed, housing officer Sharon Ryan said there were 'conditions attached' to planning applications but that she would have to return at the next meeting with further details. Separately, Cllr O'Brien returned to an assertion recently made by chief executive of Wexford County Council (WCC) Eddie Taaffe that the council is currently exceeding its housing targets. 'There's only 12 houses listed in our monthly report in this district, and there's only been six properties advertised on choice-based letting (CBL) in the RMD this year, how can we be exceeding our housing targets?' she asked. 'That's nowhere near ambitious enough to meet the demand that's out there. Could we propose a motion from the RMD that we get our fair share of housing delivery here because we're not exceeding our targets in this district anyway.' After Ms Ryan stated that a further 55 properties in the RMD were due to be made available via approved housing bodies (AHB), Angela Finn of housing capital said that, despite appearances, the Rosslare district would meet its targets under the Housing For All scheme. 'We've already delivered 35 in Rosetown, but because it's a five-year plan and the targets were set a long time ago they are coming in slowly – a lot of them were before your time,' she said to Cllr O'Brien, who was elected last year. 'The numbers allocated to RMD haven't quite been met yet but there's two years to go and we will get there.' Ms Finn also provided Cllr Frank Staples with an update regarding houses in Tagoat which she said will be available for CBL this month.
New York Times
05-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Landlords Commit $2.5 Million to Help Cuomo's Mayoral Campaign
Landlords in New York City have apparently picked their champion in the mayor's race: Andrew M. Cuomo. Housing for All, a super PAC representing landlords' interests, announced plans on Thursday to spend $2.5 million on campaign ads to promote Mr. Cuomo — the single largest ad commitment of the election cycle so far. The donation, which was first reported by Politico, again highlights the outsize influence of super PACs, which allow donors to contribute unlimited sums of money that can be used to promote a candidate as long as the groups do not coordinate with the candidate directly. In the mayor's race, Mr. Cuomo has been the prime beneficiary of such money. Another super PAC, Fix the City, has raised roughly $10 million on his behalf, including from companies and individuals with business before the city. The largest donation, $1 million, came from DoorDash, the food delivery service lobbying City Hall on regulations that could disrupt its business model. The $2.5 million ad buy from Housing for All is funded by the New York Apartment Association, which represents landlords and lobbies city government and the city's rent-setting organization, the Rent Guidelines Board, on their behalf. Kenny Burgos, who leads the association, said the goal was to ensure the longtime viability of the housing stock by making sure that landlords had money to maintain their buildings. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
RTÉ News
05-06-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
LDA to purchase private land for private housing projects
The Land Development Agency is on course to purchase more private land and build more private housing projects, following a Cabinet committee on housing in Dublin. The planned change to the LDA's remit flows from ministerial concern at the slow rate of housing output, with completion targets for this year likely to be missed. Among those attending the meeting today, were Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris, Housing Minister James Browne and Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers. The LDA's existing focus is on social and affordable homes on large sites, but that's now due to be broadened to allow more private homes to be built as well. In addition, the Agency has said it has lined up 32 State owned sites for development, but now it's going to be able to purchase more land from the private sector. In previous meetings of the Cabinet committee on housing, there were discussions on how to speed up the transfer of lands to the LDA from State agencies. During today's meeting, there were also talks on the reform of the government's Housing For All plan, which is due to be published next month. While changes to the Rent Pressure Zones were not on the agenda, a decision on the question could be taken by the Cabinet as early as next Tuesday. Sources close to Tánaiste Simon Harris suggested that a balance had to be struck between protecting renters but also removing roadblocks which limit housing supply. However, Opposition parties are likely to vigorously oppose any changes to either the Rent Pressure Zones or changing the remit of the LDA. The government target for housing completions in 2025 is 41,000. However, only 30,300 were finished last year, and the Housing Minister James Browne told RTE's Prime Time it would be "extremely challenging" to hit the 2025 housing targets. An ESRI prediction for 2025 suggested only in the region of 34,000 homes would be completed, and 37,000 in 2026. The institute warned that "most of the risks weigh on the downside", suggesting those lower targets also might not be met. Homelessness figures hit a record last month with 15,580 living in emergency accommodation, including 4,775 children. That was an 11% increase on April last year, and does not include people sleeping rough, sofa surfing, living in domestic violence refuges or International Protection centres. The cost of renting increased by 3.4% in the first 3 months of 2025, according to The survey suggested that the average open-market rent is now above €2,000 - another first.
Irish Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Dublin's €70bn infrastructural upgrade: how it breaks down
Despite the development of the M50 , Luas , Dart and the Port Tunnel, Dublin has outgrown its infrastructure and needs a €70 billion investment in housing, transport, water and energy (over 15 years) to catch up. That's according to KPMG . While the figure was used to showcase the consultancy's Dublin 2040 report, published on Wednesday, highlighting what Dublin-based businesses see as the city's strengths and challenges, it wasn't actually contained in the report. KPMG's corporate finance partner Hazel Cryan, however, told The Irish Times that its €70 billion estimate accompanying the report was derived from an analysis of various Government strategies in housing, transport and other sectors. READ MORE [ Dublin needs €70bn investment in infrastructure by 2040 Opens in new window ] 'We've applied an extrapolation out to 2040 based on those reports and what the known big projects very much an estimate,' she said. It breaks down as follows: €30 billion is needed to upgrade the city's transport network as per the Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy, which includes mega projects like the proposed MetroLink underground rail project. A further €26 billion is earmarked for housing, mainly on the social and affordable projects and targets contained in current Housing for All strategy and beyond. KPMG also reckons that a further €10 billion is needed to upgrade the city's water infrastructure (which is highlighted as a key block on housing development). An additional €6 billion is also necessary to upgrade the city's energy infrastructure to meet the growing demand for electricity and to support the transition to a low-carbon economy, it says. A further €500 million is also needed to upgrade the city's climate risk and flood defence system. All in, a hefty outlay to get the city fit for purpose. KPMG's Dublin 2040 report is based on a survey 300 Dublin-based businesses and what they see as the key priorities. Unsurprisingly the survey found almost 9 in 10 (87 per cent) believe Dublin is doing poorly in the area of housing, reflecting what the report describes as 'the persistent and ubiquitous nature of the issue'. Housing is flagged as the top concern with 60 per cent of businesses seeing affordable accommodation as a critical infrastructure issue ahead of healthcare (20 per cent), public transport (15 per cent) and technology (5 per cent). 'Dublin is beyond an inflection point in a number of critical areas,' said Ryan McCarthy, managing partner at KPMG in Ireland.
