Local authority housing funds cut

GOVERNMENT FUNDING for local authority social housing programmes, including construction, leasing, regeneration and remedial works, has been cut by almost one-third this year.

Every local authority in the State is facing substantial cuts, but some are being hit harder than others with reductions of 50 per cent in their housing budgets.

Last year, local authorities had a collective budget of more than €1.2 billion to spend on all their housing needs. This year, that budget has fallen to €872 million.

The largest overall cutback is in funding for supply of social housing. The Department of the Environment’s policy shifted last year in favour of local authorities leasing empty housing stock from developers and landlords instead of building their own.

The change to leasing allows more units to be provided for less money. On this basis, the Local Authority Housing Fund, the largest component of the housing fund package is being cut by more than half, from €719 million to €330 million. The cut will encourage local authorities to choose leasing housing arrangements.

Other smaller schemes such as the Capital Loans and Subsidy Scheme, which in part funds voluntary housing bodies and the Capital Assistance Scheme, which provides specialised housing such as units for the homeless, are also being cut, but to a lesser degree.

The only housing supply fund which is increasing is the Rental Accommodation Scheme, which was €60 million in 2009 and has been brought up to €89 million this year.

Funding for regeneration schemes is increasing from €97 million in 2009 to almost €117 million. Dublin City Council is getting more than half this money, €62 million. The bulk, some €50 million, is to go to the continuing regeneration of Ballymun. Limerick city is to see its regeneration budget more than double from €11 million last year to €25 million.

The budget for remedial works has fallen from almost €55 million to just under €40 million, but funding for retrofitting old stock with energy-saving measures is being doubled from just under €19 million to almost €38 million.

The Dublin commuter counties have seen some of the largest falling in housing funding.