Part V affordable housing

@honeyhive wrote:

Does anybody know anything about Part V affordable housing scheme??? I’ve applied heard nothing, has anybody got an affordable house/apartment under this scheme with Dublin City Council??? Anybody know if the requirement that up to 20% of all private developments have to be made available as affordable/social housing is been enforced ? Do you know if it is the Dept of the Environment duty to ensure that this law is complied with or the Councils??? Any help appreciated!

I’m sorry, but do you mean you’ve applied for an apartment and heard nothing; or that you’ve submitted a planning permission for a scheme?

Regardless, the requirement for Part V compliance varies between Councils. You are expected to have demonstrated compliance with the Part V regs before work commences on site. You have to show knowledge of the requirement, and a proposal (see below) for Planning Permission and, if you haven’t agreed a solution prior to Grant, it will be included in your Conditions (although DLRCC are getting strict on the actually inclusion of S&A units for the Planning Application) Agreement is by one of 3 approaches :

1. The inclusion of S&A apartments in the scheme. It varies between Councils but this can be either 20% of the toal gross floor area or 20% of the No. of proposed units (20% of the area is a REAL pain as the S&A floor areas are so low and you will get penalised for, eg large penthouses etc.) OR

2. The inclusion of the above on a different site owned by the applicant OR

3. The Payment of a contribution, the value of which is agreed with the Council.

The recent norm, certainly last year, was for the third option to be employed. In high-end apartment schemes you will find that the Council is much more likely to take a contribution than enforce the Part V regs due, amongst other reasons, to the high management fees associated with these apartment developments.

Anyway, if it’s an apartment you’re after, I suggest you talk to the Housing Officer of the relevant Council.

Honeyhive, the developers of the sites you mentioned may have been requested by DCC to pay a contribution instead of handing over the 20%. This is the most common way of complying with Part V. For example, between January and June 2004 there were only 1,438 S&Aff units proposed in the country. DCC, Fingal and South Dublin account for the vast majority of these with Wexford, D/L Rath and Donegal Co Co amounting to 0. So just because schemes are being built doesnt mean that they will all have 20% S&A housing.

The issue of contributions is extremely ‘hazy’ to say the least!!. All funds are supposed to go into an account with will be used by the LA to provide S&Aff housing elsewhere in their area. However, no studies / reports have been conducted on where the money is going, how much money there is available etc etc… This is one of the major flaws of Part V as it currently operates.

Enough zoned land for 366,000 housing units

rte.ie February 11, 2005 12:57

New house guarantee registrations for the first nine months of 2004 totalled 45,979, an increase of 7.6% over the first nine months of the previous year, according to the September Housing Statistics Bulletin from the Department of the Environment.

The number of mortgage approvals for the September 2004 quarter grew by 33.4% from the September 2003 quarter, the department figures show.

Details of the national inventory of zoned residential land indicate that there is adequate zoned serviced land to provide over 366,000 housing units. This would equate to about five years supply at current rates of output and has the potential to provide accommodation for about one million people.

Total output of Social and Affordable housing amounted to almost 5,000 units for the first nine months of last year. Of these, 181 units were acquired with a further 1,801 units currently being built, and 2,681 at the proposal stage.

The Department also said that new house prices for the September quarter increased by 10.6% nationally and by 9.9% in Dublin compared to the same time the previous year. Second hand house prices rose by 10% nationally and by 9.1% in Dublin