The Department of Housing failed to spend a staggering €1 billion set aside for housing over the course of the last three years, it has emerged. The information that the State declined to spend the money in the midst of a worsening housing crisis was obtained by Sinn Féin in response to a Parliamentary Question.
The information, released to the Party’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin, showed that the Department of Housing underspent in housing amounting to €471 million last year. In addition, it underspent its capital budget by €441 million in 2021, and by €92 million in 2020 – a total amounting to roughly €1.52 billion.
The underspending could have funded the construction of 4,000 social homes at a time of severe shortage and long housing lists, with the unspent sums intended for affordable and social housing across Ireland.
Responding to the damning figures, the department claimed that the underspending was due to Covid-19 and inflation, adding that the highest ever level of housing expenditure in a single year here was seen in 2022, with nearly €3.5 billion “expended on housing”.
It said: “However, the impacts on the housing spend during 2020-2022 arose as a direct result of challenges arising from the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on the construction sector, with sites closed at times and, also, the unprecedented and unexpected challenges arising from the Russian war on Ukraine.
“This resulted in delays in the pace of project completion due to the need to address the negative impacts on construction cost inflation, energy and fuel prices and supply-chain issues, etc. As these challenges became apparent, Government moved to address them,” the department added.
Continuing, the department of housing said it would be permitted to bring up to 10 per cent of its capital allocation into the next year.
“In the case of significant capital projects, it is important to note that the capital carryover ensures that where delivery arises beyond the calendar year initially anticipated, the capital can transfer to meet the commitment up to a maximum of 10 per cent,” a spokesperson said.
Mr Ó Broin of Sinn Féin, who obtained the information, meanwhile questioned the department’s explanation for the lack of spending, as he blasted the role of “red tape and delay” imposed on local authorities and housing bodies by the Department.
“While Covid-19 construction site restrictions were a factor, they are not the main reason why so much money for social and affordable housing is being underspent. Nor does it explain why the annual underspend is increasing each year, even after Covid,” he said.
“The level of red tape and delay imposed on local authorities and approved housing bodies [AHBs] by the Department of Housing and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is the principal problem,” he added.
“This could have housed half the total number of households currently in Department of Housing-funded emergency accommodation,” he said.
He claimed that while local authorities, approved housing bodies and Opposition politicians have been “highlighting this problem for years,” the Minister for Housing has “refused to act”.
The department for housing is tasked with supporting the sustainable and efficient delivery of well-planned homes, effective local government and communities across Ireland. It funds local authorities and housing bodies to build social housing, with local authorities being the main providers of social homes for people who cannot afford to buy a home or rent accommodation privately.
Under the department’s Housing for All 2030 plan, it envisages securing a “steady supply” of housing in various locations across Ireland in the longer term; it is estimated that Ireland will need an average of 33,000 new homes to be provided each year from 2021 to 2030.
Under the department’s policy, it says it will achieve ‘housing for all’ through a range of pathways – including increasing new housing supply; increasing affordability and supporting home ownership; addressing vacancy; eradicating homelessness; increasing social housing, and increasing new housing supply.