Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing, Eoin Ó Broin TD, has said that the Draft National Planning Framework Revision seriously underestimates housing need.

His comments were made following an Oireachtas Housing Committee meeting with Department Officials this week.

Teachta Ó Broin said:

“This week the Department of Housing published the Draft National Planning Framework Revision and presented the draft to the Oireachtas Housing Committee. The draft says that there is a need for 50,000 new homes a year from now to 2040.

“When Department of Housing officials were asked to explain how this number had been arrived at, they were not able to provide a clear answer.

“Last week, the ESRI published a report indicating that emerging demand for new homes would be in the region of 44,000 a year. This estimate does not include unmet demand.

“Last month, the Housing Commission published their assessment of unmet demand. They argued that in addition to emerging demand there is a need for between 15,000 and 25,000 new homes a year to meet unmet demand.

“When you combine both the ESRI assessment of emerging demand and the Housing Commissions average figure for unmet demand you get an average annual new housing need in the region of 60,000 a year.

“Indeed, the Housing Commission recommend meeting unmet demand as early as possible, recommending a target of 70,000 new homes in 2029 and 2030.

“The Department of Housing’s figure of 50,000 new homes a year makes no sense.

“When asked to explain the difference between their figure and both the ESRI and Housing Commission figure they said they were taking the ESRI emerging demand of 44,000 new homes a year and making a ‘reasonable allowance’ for unmet demand, i.e. an extra 6,000 homes a year to meet the housing deficit. This is nowhere close to the figures contained in the Housing Commission report.

“The current government housing plan is based on an under assessment of total housing need. That is one of the key reasons why the plan is not working, and the housing crisis is getting worse. Given that the government’s own revised housing targets, due in the autumn, will be based on the NPF Review, it is imperative that they get the number right.

“Sinn Féin will be urging the Minister to revise the Draft NPF housing targets upwards based on the most comprehensive independent data available from both the ESRI and the Housing Commission.”