THE HOUSING CRISIS CAN BE SOLVED

Transcription

1 THE HOUSING CRISIS CAN BE SOLVED Sinn Féin Alternative Budget 2019

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3 SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE BUDGET 2019 THE HOUSING CRISIS CAN BE SOLVED 1 Contents Public Housing... 2 Private Rental... 4 Homelessness... 6 Housing Inequality... 8 Housing Standards... 9 For full breakdown of our alternative budget measures visit

4 2 THE HOUSING CRISIS CAN BE SOLVED SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE BUDGET 2019 PUBLIC HOUSING THE GOVERNMENTS RECORD» Rebuilding Ireland isn t working 71,858 households on Council waiting lists 40,354 households in short term HAP tenancies 19,388 households in four year RAS tenancies 131,600 households in need of real social housing Just 4,922 real social houses delivered in 2016 Just 6,268 real social houses delivered in 2017 Just 5,869 real social homes to be delivered in 2018 Government delivered zero affordable homes in 2016, 2017 & % of all social housing tenancies under Rebuilding Ireland are subsidised private rental tenancies

5 SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE BUDGET 2019 THE HOUSING CRISIS CAN BE SOLVED 3 PUBLIC HOUSING SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE Budget measures In 2019 Sinn Féin would double capital investment in public housing to meet social and affordable housing need Total capital spending on housing in 2018 was 1.1bn. Government has committed to increasing this in 2019 by 200m. Sinn Féin would commit a further 1bn bringing the total capital spend on public housing to 2.3bn This would deliver 14,890 public homes, 153% more than delivered by Government this year and double their 2019 target. We would provide an additional 2,850 social homes, consisting of 1,500 new builds, Part Vs and acquisitions, 950 vacant units via Buy and Renew and 400 units of traveller specific accommodation. This would bring the total number of social houses delivered in 2019 to 10,260. We would also deliver 4,630 affordable homes of which 1,435 would be cost rental and 3,195 would be affordable sale. Govt 2018 target Govt 2019 target SF 2019 target Real social housing 5,869 7,410 10,260 Affordable sale Zero Zero 1,435 Affordable purchase Zero Zero 3,195 Total public housing 5,869 7,410 14,890 Non budgetary measures Alongside these budgetary measures Sinn Féin would: Restore the Part V requirement for social housing in private developments to 20% Slash the approval, tendering and procurement process for public housing from months to 6-9 months End the use of high risk and high cost public private partnerships, land initiatives and joint ventures Promote Council led mixed income public housing estates with social, cost rental and affordable purchase homes Ensure Approved Housing Bodies deliver the maximum number of public homes to compliment the role of Councils

6 4 THE HOUSING CRISIS CAN BE SOLVED SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE BUDGET 2019 PRIVATE RENTAL THE GOVERNMENTS RECORD» The rental market is broken Rents have increased by 25% since 2016 Rents in Dublin have increased by 8.8% in the last 12 months despite the 4% Rent Pressure Zone cap Average rents are now 1,094 across the state and 1,587 in Dublin Student rents are spiralling out of control For every 1 rental property available in Dublin today there are 2.7 vacancies on Airbnb More than 6,000 rental properties have left the market since 2016 More than 17,394 buy to let mortgages are in long term arrears

7 SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE BUDGET 2019 THE HOUSING CRISIS CAN BE SOLVED 5 PRIVATE RENTAL SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE Budget Measures To make rents more affordable Sinn Féin would introduce an emergency three year refundable rent relief for all renters. The relief would be worth 8.3% of the annual cost of renting capped at 1,500 per year. This would give every renter a months rent back into their pocket. The total cost of the relief would be 265m in a full year. The emergency rent relief would be accompanied by an emergency three year rent freeze reviewed annually. Existing tenancies would have their rent frozen at their current levels. All new tenancies would be capped at the Residential Tenancies Boards standardised rent index by County or Local Electoral Area as appropriate from budget day. Non budget measures Alongside these budgetary measures Sinn Féin would: Provide greater security of tenure by amending S34 of the Residential Tenancies Act to remove grounds 3 (sale) and 4 (use by family member) and provide tenancies of indefinite duration Prohibit landlords from seeking more than one months rent and deposit in advance of a new tenancy Implement the recommendations of the 2018 Oireachtas Housing Committee report on regulation of the short term letting sector Remove the restriction on Institutes of Technology to borrow for the purposes of providing on or near campus student accommodation Amend the Residential Tenancies Act to ensure that all purpose built student accommodation is covered by its rent review and dispute resolution provisions Introduce rent certainty after the three year rent freeze linking rents to an index such as the Consumer Price Index

8 6 THE HOUSING CRISIS CAN BE SOLVED SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE BUDGET 2019 HOMELESSNESS THE GOVERNMENTS RECORD 9,891 people including 3,867 children in Department of Housing funded emergency accommodation 1,500 women and 2,200 children pass through Tusla funded domestic violence emergency and step down accommodation annually 591 adults and children with their leave to remain using Direct Provision as emergency accommodation Homelessness up 60% since Rebuilding Ireland launched Child homeless up 77% during the same period Pensioner homelessness up 80% during the same period No reduction in the number of families in hotels and B&Bs

9 SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE BUDGET 2019 THE HOUSING CRISIS CAN BE SOLVED 7 HOMELESSNESS SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE Providing over 10,000 social houses in 2019 would allow Local Authorities to reduce the number of families in emergency accommodation Sinn Féin would also commit to 1,000 Housing First Tenancies from within the overall provision of social housing to reduce long term homelessness To ensure a fully independent inspection regime of all voluntary sector and commercial emergency accommodation we would allocate 5m towards the establishment of a Quality Standards Framework and Inspection regime Non budget measures In addition to these budgetary measures Sinn Féin would: Introduce the Focus Ireland Amendment to prevent buy-to-let landlords who benefitted from tax breaks issuing vacant possession Notices to Quit Introduce the Sinn Féin Homeless Prevention Bill requiring Local Authorities to have a 60 day homeless prevention plan for all those at risk of losing their homes or tenancies Legislate for a referendum to enshrine the Right to Housing into the Constitution Agree with stakeholders a new deadline for ending long term homelessness and the need to sleep rough Ensure the publication of monthly homeless figures include all those in emergency accommodation whether funded by the Department of Housing, the Department Children and Youth Affairs or the Department of Justice

10 8 THE HOUSING CRISIS CAN BE SOLVED SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE BUDGET 2019 HOUSING INEQUALITY THE GOVERNMENTS RECORD In 2017 just 55% of funding allocated to the Traveller Accommodation Programme was spent Provision of domestic violence emergency and step down accommodation meets just 31% of actual need 591 adults and children with their leave to remain using Direct Provision as emergency accommodation Thousands of people with disabilities and limited mobility are living in homes that are not adapted to meet their needs. HOUSING INEQUALITY SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE Sinn Féin would fund an additional 400 traveller accommodation units at a cost of 9.7m bringing the total budget to 21.7m This is part of our commitment to restore Traveller Accommodation funding to its 2008 level of 40m. Sinn Féin would increase funding for domestic violence emergency and step down accommodation and supports by 11.4m as part of commitment to reach a total of 60m by Sinn Féin would increase funding to the Local Authority disability and mobility adaptation grants for Council tenants and private home owners by 25% at a cost of 13.25m. Sinn Féin would provide those with leave to remain and trapped in direct provision with access to the existing place finders service in local authorities to assist them exiting direct provision.

11 SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE BUDGET 2019 THE HOUSING CRISIS CAN BE SOLVED 9 HOUSING STANDARDS THE GOVERNMENTS RECORD Local Authority inspections of private rental accommodation is unacceptably low due to a lack of Government funding There is a weak enforcement regime with no automatic sanction or penalty for landlords for serious breaches of fire and health and safety standards in the private rented sector There is no mandatory fire safety inspection of new multiple unit developments There is no response from Government for those homeowners with Celtic Tiger latent defects HOUSING STANDARDS SINN FÉIN ALTERNATIVE Sinn Féin would increase funding for Local Authority inspections of private rental accommodation by 5m to bring forward the 25% annual inspection rate target and introduce a NCT style certification for rental standards. In order to ensure all multiple occupancy residential developments are subject to mandatory Local Authority fire safety inspections we would provide 836,000 to fund Fire Safety Risk Inspection Teams Sinn Féin would also establish a non-judicial latent defects scheme for those homeowners who purchased properties prior to 2014 with serious structural latent defects. The scheme would in the first instance seek to impose the cost of the remedial work on the builder/developer. However the scheme would also provide a fund for those cases where the original builder/trader no longer exists. This would be jointly funded by Government and industry on a euro for euro basis the detail of would be announced after a three month stakeholder consultation. In Budget 2019 we would allocate an initial 7.5m to establish the fund to be matched by 7.5 from industry. Sinn Féin would legislate to bring local authority tenancies under the remit of the Residential Tenancies Board.

12 E R E H W D N A L E R I W E N A D N I H E B T F E NO ONE IS L Join the campaign today If you re on the side of workers, families, public services and a united Ireland it s time to get on board and make a difference. Go to or text EOIN Ó BROIN TD Spokesperson on Housing, Planning and Local Government 0612 LEINSTER HOUSE Tel: eoin.obroin@oireachtas.ie CONSTITUENCY OFFICE: Office 4, 1st Floor, Griffeen View, The Square, Main Street, Lucan, Co Dublin Tel: