The Land Development Agency Bill allows for the pillaging of the public land bank, according to Úna Dunphy of People Before Profit.
This Government and the previous one have been promising to provide “social and affordable” housing for the last six years. They promised that the LDA would be delivering these much needed homes, but instead, the Bill is a blatant vehicle for the privatisation of public land.
The Bill will allow for the new Agency to take over public land from Local Authorities and all other public bodies in the State – land that should be used wholly for social and genuinely affordable housing, and instead allocate 50 per cent or more of each site for private housing. The Bill barely mentions social housing. There is no minimum social housing requirement, and social housing provision is not mentioned at all in the “Functions of the Agency” section of the Bill.
The Bill instead refers to “cost rental” provision, but again states explicitly that rents, alongside house prices on the sites, will be linked to the private market with “different prices ….. relating to different geographical or administrative areas.”
There is also a massive democratic deficit in the Bill, in that it removes the ability of Councillors, elected by the people, to have a say on what land is sent to the LDA or the amount of social and affordable housing that is delivered on a site. It allows the Minister to dictate the tenure mix on a development.
The only hope of social housing on sites will be through Part V, (10% obligation) which currently applies to private developments, but even this obligation can be avoided by the developer paying a sum to the Council in lieu.
Locally, the Waterford City and County Council gave land to developers in a deal that saw some percentage of affordable housing being incorporated into schemes, but mostly they were beyond average income earners. The Council also spent tax-payers money developing access to sites at Kilbarry, Carrickphierish and Williamstown, and installing basic services like sewage systems ahead of the builders’ development, thus facilitating massive savings for private developers.
Vast swathes of public land have been left idle for years, says Úna Dunphy, while successive Governments have relied on the private sector for the delivery of public and affordable housing. That policy has failed dramatically, and this new Land Development Agency Bill will only exacerbate the problem, and continue allowing the market to dictate prices, ensuring that housing remains unaffordable for the vast majority of people.
The reality is that under the LDA, public land will be used for unaffordable private market housing. With affordability linked to market prices, it is inevitable that the cost of housing will remain out of reach for the vast majority of people who need it. The LDA will signal the end of social housing as we know it. Cost Rental will replace social housing for those locked out of the market and make money for investors.
If we are to have any hope of tackling the housing crisis in the next decade, public land must be used only for public housing, and with urgency. Instead of setting up agencies that will facilitate wealth creation for developers, the Government should set up a national building company that will get on with the job of designing and building homes on public land.