RECORD NUMBERS of unemployed young people are joining waiting lists for social housing, pushing the overall number of households in need of accommodation up to 56,000.
A detailed breakdown of social housing waiting lists, to be published shortly by the Department of the Environment, shows the number of applicants has increased by a third between 2005 and 2008.
Of the number seeking social housing at the end of last year, almost 40 per cent were under the age of 30, while 22 per cent were under 25.
Most of those on housing waiting lists were single and had annual incomes of less than €15,000. The main reason given for applying for social housing was inability to pay private rent (53 per cent). Other reasons included medical difficulties, homelessness, or overcrowded and unfit accommodation.
About one-third of applicants have been waiting for less than a year, a fifth between one and two years, while the remainder have been waiting two or more years.
The figures also show the proportion of non-Irish nationals joining waiting lists is on the increase. They now account for almost one-quarter of households in need of housing.
Despite the growth in numbers seeking social housing, Minister of State for Housing Michael Finneran said in a statement yesterday that the housing needs of some 20,000 households had been met last year, an increase of 10 per cent on 2007.
He said the Government planned to use “creative and flexible” measures this year to address housing needs, such as long-term leasing of vacant buildings for social housing.
“This will ensure that we can meet significantly more housing needs than would be possible if we relied on traditional construction and acquisition programmes alone,” he said.
“Given the constrained resource environment that we will continue to face in the years ahead, leasing and other innovative arrangements for meeting housing needs will assume even greater importance.”
Official figures also include an analysis of data provided by financial institutions which show that 41 per cent of all new mortgages last year were taken out by first-time buyers.
Of this group, almost a quarter borrowed 100 per cent mortgages in 2008 to finance their properties, despite the danger of negative equity in a falling housing market. Industry sources say 100 per cent mortgages have since been phased out in the vast majority of financial institutions.
The report also captures the dramatic fall-off in construction. The number of houses and apartments built peaked at more than 90,000 in 2007, before falling to 52,000 last year. It projects between 20,000 and 25,000 will be built by the end of this year.