3.10 | Housing The Government’s plan, Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, aims to double the annual level of residential construction to 25,000 homes and deliver 47,000 units of social housing in the period to 2021, while making the best use of the existing housing stock and laying the foundations for a more vibrant and responsive private- rented sector.
There is a need to diversify the housing mix and typologies within our Region using an evidence-based approach at local level. Under the NPF a ‘Housing Need Demand Assessment’ (HNDA) is to be undertaken for each local authority area to correlate and accurately align future housing requirements. The HNDA is: • To be undertaken by local authorities with coordination and assistance from the Regional Assembly, and at a metropolitan scale particularly where inter-county and inter-regional settlement interactions are to be planned for and managed; • To primarily inform housing policies, housing strategies and associated land-use zoning policies as well as assisting in determining where new policy areas or investment programmes are to be developed; • To be supported by the establishment of a coordination and monitoring unit to assist local authorities and the Southern Regional Assembly in the development of the HNDA (DHPLG, Regional Assemblies and the local authorities) to develop and coordinate a centralised spatial database for local authority housing data that supports each HNDA. Statutory guidelines will be provided for development plans in relation to HNDA and the gathering of housing data. The RSES supports smart living, integration of smart technologies to future proof our homes and universal design. Refer to Section 3.11 Retrofitting Initiative Priorities, Chapter 5 for Future Proofing and Chapter 7 Quality of Life that includes a specific objective for equal access and universal design.
The five key pillars of the Action Plan are:
• Pillar 1 - Address Homelessness;
• Pillar 2 - Accelerate Social Housing;
• Pillar 3 - Build More Homes;
• Pillar 4 - Improve the Rental Sector;
• Pillar 5 - Utilise Existing Housing.
Housing will be required to cater for existing and changing population requirements, such as social and affordable housing, student housing, renewal/ upgrade and replacement of existing stock, smaller families, an ageing population, and that adult children are living at home longer, with resultant requirements for additional housing responses. Adysfunctional housingmarket affects thequalityof life for large sections of society and increases the incidence of homelessness. The IBEC report “Better Housing: Improving Affordability and Supply” highlights the inadequate supply of affordable and quality housing as one of the main factors affecting attracting talent to our regions. The mix of housing demand is changing dramatically which will need targeted policy intervention to cater for 1-2 person households and the needs of an aging population. Coupled with this, Ireland has some of the lowest density cities in the developed world and this constrains housing delivery. This requires a better connect between housing policy to delivery and a radical rethink of the planning approach to height and density to bring our cities into line with international norms.
RPO 32
Rebuilding Ireland To support Government policy and targets of the Housing Agency under “Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness” and local authority actions that contribute to progress under the key pillars of addressing homelessness, accelerating social housing, building more homes, improving the rental sector and utilizing the existing building stock within our Region.
Southern Regional Assembly | RSES
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