End of non-council built Affordable Housing Initiatives/Schemes?

gurramok

Thought i'd let the forum know about this story

Unless i'm missing something, is this the deathknell for affordable homes offered from private developments in the future via Affordable Housing Initiatives/Schemes?

Would this mean that the only way to get an affordable property is through housing built by the council themselves as a result of this news?

The first line of the story is indeed scary:
'BUILDERS have announced they will no longer co-operate with local authorities on the direct sale of affordable houses to people on waiting lists'

It seriously doesn't look good, looks like waiting list will just get bigger for those waiting to be housed (:


http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1826872&issue_id=15605

BUILDERS have announced they will no longer co-operate with local authorities on the direct sale of affordable houses to people on waiting lists.

Builders are obliged to hand over up to 20pc of new homes in housing estates - or cash or land in lieu - for social and affordable housing. However, the Irish Home Builders Association (IBHA) said yesterday that some councils had a "blatant disregard" for the rules. Yesterday Chairman of the IHBA Jim Wood said the delivery mechanism was "a complete shambles", and that local authorities wanted 20pc of the floor area of a development rather than 20pc of units.

"We're so frustrated with the thing, it's just clogging up the system," he said. "We now find ourselves in a situation where we can no longer co-operate on this matter. The direct sale process only works if Part V (the legislation) works."

Most councils are taking money instead of houses. Last year, developers handed over €35m to avoid their obligations

Ste.phen

Sounds like the builders are being asses about it, they've probably been building tiny little houses (relative to the average size of houses in a development) and pawning those off as the affordable houses.

Moonbeam

I don't htink it is such a bad thing tbh.
I am not against affordable housig and I do think it should be there for those that are earning enough to pay a mortgage but just can not get one based on their salary.
I also think alot of it is a pisstake and people who can afford houses with out availing of it are availing of it just to get cheaper housing and therefore taking houses out of the pool for those that can't.

jdivision

No it's not. It just means that instead of the developer selling them to pre-approved people on the list they will instead be sold to the council which will then sell them on to people on the list.

The_Conductor

In parts of Dublin you could be earning 70k and still qualify for affordable housing.......

Personally I'd be inclined to suggest that it sounds as though the builders were pawning off the smaller houses in developments as "affordable houses" and leaving the larger ones for the open market. It seems a reasonable interpretation that 20% of the floor area, rather than the absolute number of dwellings, should be counted.

With more interest rates on the imminent horizon- its an academic argument anyhow.

gurramok

jdivision wrote:

No it's not. It just means that instead of the developer selling them to pre-approved people on the list they will instead be sold to the council which will then sell them on to people on the list.

Can you explain what pre-approved is?...I always thought that the councils always sell them onto to people on waiting lists or through Initiative.

Is it shared ownership?...Or is it 'Part V' is now gone for both Scheme and Initiative?

It's ambiguous on what it actually means, can you explain further?

anniehoo

smccarrick wrote:

In parts of Dublin you could be earning 70k and still qualify for affordable housing.......

Never heard of this...jaysus...sure if the cutoff is this high why isnt everyone doin it, i dont know anyone earnin this much..and i thought i was on an alright salary!!

byte

gurramok wrote:

Can you explain what pre-approved is?...I always thought that the councils always sell them onto to people on waiting lists or through Initiative.

Is it shared ownership?...Or is it 'Part V' is now gone for both Scheme and Initiative?

It's ambiguous on what it actually means, can you explain further?

Basically, there would be a waiting list of people on the Affordable Housing Scheme.

If, for example, the developer had 4 houses set aside for the AHS, then the council would forward 4 pre-approved people (4 the council have taken from their list) for the housing. These 4 would then purchase the house directly from the developer.

jdivision

You apply for the affordable housing lists and once you're accepted onto the list then you're approved. my understanding regarding the process differs from byte in that I think that the developers had agreed a deal with the local authorities whereby people on the list would be told that the affordable housing in a scheme would be sold on a certain date. They would then arrive to a scheme and the houses would be sold on a first come first served basis similar to what happens with private housing. Witness the overnight queues to get affordable homes in Lucan etc last year.

tHE vAGGABOND

a fair amount of those schemes are rubbish tbh

I know several single people in work here [earning circa 55-60k] who got places [or have outstanding offers]. One of whom has a very wealthy family indeed.

These projects are a farce and should be for people who have young families and/or are working at/near minimum wage, the cap should be nowhere near 50k, it should be nearer 35k IMHO..

..not people who could get 300k+ from any lender and could just could not be bothered to save for a proper deposit or *gasp* have to compromise and move slightly away from town.

byte

jdivision wrote:

You apply for the affordable housing lists and once you're accepted onto the list then you're approved. my understanding regarding the process differs from byte in that I think that the developers had agreed a deal with the local authorities whereby people on the list would be told that the affordable housing in a scheme would be sold on a certain date. They would then arrive to a scheme and the houses would be sold on a first come first served basis similar to what happens with private housing. Witness the overnight queues to get affordable homes in Lucan etc last year.

Hm, that's not how it works with Donegal CoCo. The "winners" of the houses are notified by post that their application was successful (I dunno what the letter says, as I haven't received one yet )

Oddly, there are no viewings before the "house is yours if you want it" letter, so if I want to view the house, I'd have to arrange something with the developer. And if I refuse the dwelling, I lose 20 points from my "score" and will be pushed further back down the list.

The_Conductor

byte wrote:

And if I refuse the dwelling, I lose 20 points from my "score" and will be pushed further back down the list.

Seems fair enough?
Is there is some sort of a mechanism for trying to apply in a particular locale (for family or work reasons) that didn't incur the 20 point reduction though?

byte

smccarrick wrote:

Seems fair enough?
Is there is some sort of a mechanism for trying to apply in a particular locale (for family or work reasons) that didn't incur the 20 point reduction though?

Uhm, not sure what you mean by locale? You request what town you'd like a house in, though don't think they'd accept a certain area of the town.

Moonbeam

tHE vAGGABOND wrote:

a fair amount of those schemes are rubbish tbh

I know several single people in work here [earning circa 55-60k] who got places [or have outstanding offers]. One of whom has a very wealthy family indeed.

These projects are a farce and should be for people who have young families and/or are working at/near minimum wage, the cap should be nowhere near 50k, it should be nearer 35k IMHO..

..not people who could get 300k+ from any lender and could just could not be bothered to save for a proper deposit or *gasp* have to compromise and move slightly away from town.

I agree with you here,it is an easy way out for some people so they don't have to work as hard as they would to afford a house.

All these people going for it just to get a cheaper house that can well afford a house on the open market really piss me off.