Brendan Smith urges rapid reform of housing income limits
Brendan Smith criticised current housing income limits and called for a finalised review to raise income thresholds so more working families can access local authority housing. He warned that many low-paid, often single-parent households reliant on Family Income Supplement are excluded from housing lists and risk being condemned to renting for life.
Calls for review and income limit changes
The deputy said existing guidelines and income limits are outdated and must be improved. He recalled previous promises that a review would be completed and urged both ministers to finalise it so income limits can be increased and more households can join local authority housing lists.
Examples of affected households
He cited cases of one-parent families with part-time, low-paid work receiving Family Income Supplement who cannot get on council housing lists and lack realistic mortgage options. The deputy argued these households often cannot sustain loans and are effectively barred from home ownership without state assistance.
Government response and planned measures
The minister acknowledged the concerns and said the department has secured a 24% increase in the capital budget. The housing agency has been asked to assess the affordable purchase and cost-rental equity schemes alongside the income eligibility review, with publication expected early next year and €110 million ring-fenced for affordable measures.
Consequences and urgency
The deputy warned that without prompt change to income limits sustainable communities will suffer and some counties will remain at the lowest tier for eligibility. He appealed again to ministers for rapid progress, saying delay risks condemning a generation to renting for life.
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Minister, it is clear that the guidelines and the income limits that we have at the moment are totally outdated and I was promised that there would be a review completed and carried out and income limits would be improved but back to Minister Cove in his time in office subsequently by Minister Murphy and Minister English I cited cases in this house before where a person maybe from one parent family the mother working in a part-time low-paid job getting family income supplement and that mother with her two or three children not being able to get on the council housing list that's wrong because that person has no chance of getting a loan or if they did get a loan they couldn't sustain it and they could not service it so we have a case now where there's a cohort of people who are out working oftentimes in no-paid jobs unfortunately in difficult circumstances in many circumstances one parent families they're dependent on the family income supplement which by definition means that their income is not sustainable from their employment and they're expected to go and house themselves without state assistance of getting on the local authority list this review needs to be finalised and we need a great improvement in the income limits and that needs to be addressed as early as possible and I appeal to both Minister Burke and Minister O'Brien to make progress on this thank you first of all I fully accept the well-made points of each of the three deputies who have highlighted the concerns in this area and we all face them at our clinics every week people who are on the margins who we see are missing out on the housing list by way of income that potentially should be disregarded and it can be very frustrating but I would point out first of all in relation to the housing department Minister O'Brien has secured a 24% increase in the capital budget this is going to give a lot more options in terms of different channels we can direct people through the affordable purchase scheme and the cost rental equity scheme and what we've done now we've we've asked the housing agency to assess these two schemes on the back of the review that's been done to increase the income limits because the process needs to go together and we expect to publish that early next year because we expect a significant amount of options for people there's 110 million ring fence for affordable measures which is concrete and definite for next year and obviously we will assess then in terms of what more can be done to ensure people get secure accommodation because I think that's the will of all of us in this house I welcome the Minister's remarks Minister you in your introduction in your initial response spoke about sustainable communities thankfully over many decades we had a local authority policies that work very well with local authority housing and a mix of households we will not have sustainable communities if we don't improve the income limits we have only people who are very very low incomes particularly dependent on the state for their only income if we don't improve the income if we don't improve the income limits Cavanagh and my own two counties have the lowest tier in regard to the bans that the Minister spoke about if there's not a change very soon Minister we are condemning a generation to renting for life none of us in this house want to see that happening people are entitled to be able to aspire to their own home whether that's through a local authority or being able to provide it through their own mortgage or their own loan we need action on this Minister and I appeal again to Minister O'Brien and I know both of you are very committed to making progress in this area but we need progress as rapidly as possible or we're condemning more and more people to renting for life Thank you thank you again I thank the deputies for their well-made points and the sole focus of this department is to ensure that we provide secure accommodation and everyone can access that all our citizens equally I think one thing we should always instill hope in people because there is hope and people can take consolation that are on the margin in terms of the significant budget we have secured for this department for 2021 and as I said the housing agency is assessing based on the new cost rental and the new affordable scheme that are due to be published shortly the terms of the income eligibility review and on that basis it will be able to ascertain what income can be disregarded in terms of various different social welfare payments and I fully accept the frustration that is there with deputies that this review has been going on a while but we've moved so much into the department in the last few months in terms of the new measures that have been brought in to ensure that affordability is put to the forefront of the department now and also we have to assess this review on that basis and it will be early next year I can assure the House of that Thank you Minister Thank you Minister
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