The Government must increase its allocation to social housing in the forthcoming Budget if it is to reach its targets under the National Development Plan (NDP), according to the Irish Council for Social Housing.
The umbrella group, representing 220 housing organisations, has said increased capital expenditure is needed to provide a promised 2,750 social housing units in the voluntary sector next year.
In a pre-Budget submission, the council's executive director, Mr Donal McManus, said an "underclass" of thousands of households which were "waiting even longer on the offer of a house", would be created unless the Government's commitments under the NDP were met.
"If the money is not made available in this budget is will take up to 2010 for the social housing targets to be achieved, prolonging the agony for many families."
The council said that since the six-year NDP was started in 2000 the demand for social housing had increased by 25 per cent with a record 48,000-plus low-income households on local authority waiting lists. Of these, 85 per cent have annual incomes of less than €15,000. More than 9,000 children are in families on the lists.
Mr McManus said a "stop-start" policy would mean a major set back in housing, not just for one budget year but for years to come. "Social housing provides an essential safety net for low-income families and the homeless who cannot afford to house themselves," he noted.
In its submission, the council also called for the Government to extend the provision of State land for affordable housing to social housing. The group pointed out that housing associations were spending up to 40 per cent of the cost of a social housing project on acquiring the site. "This means that the capital funding allocated for housing is being spent increasingly on land purchase and not on building new houses."
A third "key commitment" sought by the council is in the area of value for money in housing for the elderly and disabled.
The organisation recommends that the Government reallocate funding from "hospital-style accommodation" to sheltered housing provided by non-profit associations.
"Currently the Government pays over €100 million per year for nursing home subventions which forces elderly people to move from their home into nursing homes, often prematurely. For less than one tenth of this cost, elderly people can be accommodated in community based sheltered housing projects throughout the country provided by non-profit housing associations.
"People with disabilities are similarly living in hospital-style accommodation at great cost to the Exchequer," the council said.
