City councils to warn of housing delivery challenges posed by inflation

The chief executives of Cork and Galway city councils will warn politicians that inflation in construction costs, supply chain issues and increased demand for skilled building workers pose challenges in delivering social and affordable housing.

The two senior officials are to appear before the Oireachtas Committee on Housing on Tuesday to update TDs and Senators on the implementation of the Government’s Housing for All plan by their respective local authorities.

Ann Doherty, the chief executive of Cork City Council will outline how 3,698 social housing supports have been provided in the city between 2019 and 2021 with 847 built and 2,339 of these through tenancies created under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) programme and the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS).

In 2022 a total of 637 homes are to be delivered by Cork City Council with 515 built and 122 leased.

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The city council’s Housing Delivery Action Plan has a target of delivering 4,136 social and affordable homes by 2026 and Ms Doherty will say there is “considerable work” under way aimed at achieving this.

She will also identify “challenges” saying delivery “has been affected by well-documented externalities, the Covid-19 pandemic, cost inflation, supply chain challenges and general market uncertainty”.

Ms Doherty will add that Part V housing — social homes included in private developments — “is also reliant on the private sector delivery”.

Her opening statement adds: “That stated, Cork City Council remains strongly committed to continuing to the delivery of a strong programme to achieve our housing targets.”

Ms Doherty’s remarks will also cover the city council’s work on vacancy and dereliction.

She will also outline how over the last three years the local authority built 41 “right-sizing homes” for older people.

Construction of an additional 89 such homes is to be completed by the end of the year across five sites, all of which were either derelict or vacant.

Brendan McGrath, the chief executive of Galway City Council, will tell TDs and Senators that “there have been significant challenges in the past years which have disrupted delivery and the construction sector continues to experience issues in relation to material price increases, supply chain delays and disruption and an increasing demand for skilled workers”.

His opening statement adds: “These all have the potential to impact on our delivery however we remain committed to our targets and working with the Department and all stakeholders to ensure optimum delivery of housing units.”

However, he will also say that Galway City Council’s Housing Delivery Action Plan provides for the delivery of 1,435 social homes, which is around 16 per cent greater than the target set by the Government.

He says the local authority’s plan also provides 1,005 affordable and cost rental units.

Mr McGrath will say there are “limited vacant homes” in Galway given the high demand in the rental market but the city council has bought three properties under the Buy and Renew Scheme.

It has also bought four derelict properties through compulsory purchase orders, two of which have yielded a combined 15 units.

Mr McGrath will tell the committee that the city council is expanding its housing delivery team to meet the ambitions in its plans.