The Housing Commission, of which I was a member, was established with very specific terms of reference. Among them was the consideration of “long-term housing policy post 2030″ and an examination of “how to build on the policy changes outlined in Housing for All and related Government policies”.
The final report was a roadmap for the Government which, if implemented, would go a long way towards ending the housing crisis once and for all. The recommendations took a longer-term perspective but also highlighted some immediate actions to drive momentum and inject a real sense of urgency. In my view we need to act on its findings now.
A key recommendation – agreed unanimously and arising from a consensus among stakeholders that a key blockage is the absence of co-ordinated thinking and action in housing policymaking and implementation – was the establishment of a group, with legislative powers, to tackle the barriers to housing supply in Ireland. The group, known as the Housing Delivery Oversight Executive, would exist for five years and be empowered to clear the blockages that prevent the timely delivery of new homes.
While it is a radical idea, it is not a new one. Think back to 2020, when the National Public Health Emergency Team was charged with steering the country through the Covid-19 crisis, and legislative and regulatory measures that previously would have been unthinkable were put in place.
The pandemic was an emergency and we dealt with it. The housing crisis is also an emergency – and needs the same degree of urgency applied.
While we seem to be satisfied to simply tweak our planning system, which has utterly failed the country in recent years, our nearest neighbour appears on the verge of a housing revolution
Although the commission’s report was a long-term solution, specifically because of the emergency we now face, it requires immediate, urgent action. What is concerning is that there is little, if any, evidence of that right now.
Every day that goes by is a day wasted.
While we seem to be satisfied to simply tweak our planning system, which has utterly failed the country in recent years, our nearest neighbour appears on the verge of a housing revolution. In stark contrast to the approach here, the new British prime
, Keir Starmer, has already shown leadership and determination in announcing an intention to radically reform the UK planning system and tackle nimbyism. He even describes himself as a yimby (yes, in my backyard).
Our planning system is an outlier in Europe in two respects. Firstly, in relation to the number of opportunities objectors are given to appeal and seek judicial review of decisions made by planning authorities. Secondly, in terms of how the right of the individual is permitted to trump the common good and prevent the implementation of national and local housing policy. All too often the “housed” are preventing the delivery of homes to the “unhoused”.
Starmer plans to build 1.5 million homes in Britain in his first term and has demonstrated how he intends to do it. In an act of immense political bravery, he has committed to doing things the previous government did not do, and radically transform the planning laws in the UK so they begin to deliver housing, rather than acting as an impediment to that delivery.
In a telling comment, he said to not do so would mean home ownership would become “a luxury of the few”.
We need the same determination here – from all parties. We are failing a generation of young people who are living at home with their parents, or paying high rents in unsuitable accommodation, and whose hopes of owning their own home diminish by the day.
We all know that there is a deficit of about 250,000 houses in this country. That deficit continues to grow as house building fails to keep up with demand and population growth. It is difficult to understand the logic behind the omission of this deficit from the scope of the recent report by the Economic and Social Research Institute.
The real annual demand is in the region of 60,000. The Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien is expected to announce new – and higher – housing targets in September designed to reduce and eventually eliminate that deficit. While the acknowledgment of the real demand is late, it would be welcome. It would be disastrous for our economy and the social fabric of our State if those targets do not take account of some of the realities excluded from consideration by the ESRI in its report.
If the existing structures have failed to deliver to date, we cannot continue with the same systems and structures and expect them to suddenly start to deliver the volume of housing now required
It is widely acknowledged that most of the problems in our housing system, including high rents and lack of security of tenure, would be resolved if there was an adequate supply of housing. Therefore, while all of the recommendations of the commission are worthy of consideration, those that set a roadmap for a radical increase in supply are most urgent.
I hope that the Minister and the Government have the courage and determination to acknowledge that radical change is required to achieve the increased targets and that they commit to the implementation of the key recommendations which the Housing Commission made, including the immediate establishment of the Housing Delivery Oversight Executive without any further delay.
We need new structures to deliver more houses. We cannot continue with the same systems and structures and expect them to suddenly start to deliver the volume of housing now required. Radical changes are required to tackle our dysfunctional planning system and infrastructure co-ordination and delivery, and to ensure that appropriate funding structures are in place for both infrastructure and the development of a sufficient numbers of homes to tackle the deficit and meet the annual demand.
If the Government does not establish the new group recommended by the Housing Commission and spell out how the other housing demand, supply and delivery recommendations will be implemented in full, things will simply continue as they have before.
And the housing crisis will rage on.
Michael O’Flynn is a property developer
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