- BACKGROUND.
Carbery Housing Association has been set up by a group of residents
in West Cork, concerned about the growing exclusion of many local people
from adequate affordable housing. The association is in the process of
registration as a company limited by guarantee and not having a share
capital, and intends to apply to the Department of Environment and Local
Government for approved housing body status.
- CRISIS IN AFFORDABILITY.
The West Cork area is in the grip of a housing boom, where
development of private homes and private residential development has
spiralled. House and land prices are rising in every area, and there is
evidence that a large percentage of the local population, especially low
paid workers and unemployed people, cannot afford a home that is suited
to their needs and income.
Young people staring work, cannot get the level of mortgage needed to
buy new homes, and are often obliged to move out of the area. Local
enterprises are unable to find staff that lives locally, because
affordable homes are not available. Older people are obliged to live in
isolation in houses they cannot afford to maintain, but more appropriate
rehousing is not available. Young families are living in temporary and
often expensive private rented accommodation that takes up most of their
income or makes them reliant on benefit and creates a poverty trap.
The Council’s Draft Strategy states that at March 1999 there were
4,450 households on the Cork City and County Housing List that were
assessed as being eligible. In addition to them, a similar number had
applied to go on the List, but had not yet been assessed. The cumulative
social and affordable housing deficit for the County was estimated at
7,500 (Examiner 27.07.01).
The Strategy states that 3,800 new households are formed every year.
If, according to the Strategy, 34% of people cannot afford to buy their
own homes at present, and that this figure will rise to 37% by 2006, it
follows that at least 1,300 new households will be joining the Housing
List every year from now until 2006.At the same time Cork City and
County Councils plan to build around 900 new homes every year per year
until 2006. This is actually less than the number needed to meet the
demand from new households (1,300 per annum) and does not even begin to
address the cumulative deficit. After allocation of the new Council
built homes, and estimated 400 households would be joining the existing
Housing List every year. So by the end of 2006, there would be an
estimated 9,900 households on the List!
The number of additional homes that would be required to absorb the
deficit and new unmet demand would be in the region 1,650 new social and
affordable homes for the County. This is in addition to the homes that
the two Local Authorities are already planning to build, and is more
than twice the combined output of the two Local Authorities.
It is unlikely that this deficit can be met given current mechanisms.
To even begin to impact on this situation the Local Authorities will
need to draw on every resource available, particularly the work of
voluntary housing associations in their area.
Support and encouragement of the voluntary sector should therefore be
a key part of the Strategy This will require providing information and
facilitating access to land and housing grant for these organisations,
advising on and fast-tracking planning approvals, and dealing with
funding proposals in a rapid and helpful manner. We know of several
attempted social housing projects in the area that have been aborted due
to inability to find appropriate sites and secure planning approvals.
- AFFORDABILITY.
This term is used very loosely, and we would like to see a definition
of what makes a home affordable. It a realistic and objective principle
for defining "affordability" should be used. Other European
countries have adopted the criteria that an affordable home is one where
the resident pays no more than 20% of their available income towards
housing.
We know of local instances where housing has been defined as
affordable because the market value is discounted by 20%. Given current
market prices, a discount of 20% on a property priced at £ 80,000 will
still require occupants to pay around £ 600 per month, not counting
maintenance costs. This level of payment could not be considered
affordable to someone on an average manual wage.
We believe that the 34% of people that are unable to purchase on the
open market have incomes that are far below this level, or are on in
receipt of rent benefit, and would not be able to buy in any case. We
think the principal need is for rented housing, not housing for sale,
where rents that are means tested to provide a true level of
affordability. On this basis we question the decision of Cork Local
Authorities (Examiner 27.07.01), to set the level of social (rented)
housing required of new developments at
5 %, to 15% affordable (for sale). This decision should be reviewed.
- SINGLE PEOPLE, SINGLE PARENTS, YOUNG COUPLES.
We believe that single people, couples and single parents are
suffering the worst effects of the affordable housing shortage. This is
evidenced by a Report produced by Bantry Integrated Development Group
(BIDG) in 1999, which states that in 1998 there were 809 households on
the housing list for West Cork. 42% of these were single people, 25%
were single parents, 12% were couples, and only 13% were families with
children
The bulk of allocations by the Local Authorities are made
(understandably) to families with children, and most of the housing
built is for this client group. The difficulties for other groups in
securing housing is emphasised by a Southern Star article (11.08.01),
which states that it has come to the attention of the Western Committee
that there were 90 single people on the housing list in Bantry. A local
representative felt "they had little if any hope of getting a
house, even though 130 new council houses were being built in the area.
Some of these people had been on the housing list for 20 years. It was
also evident that many of these people lived in unsuitable private
accommodation." Other towns in a similar position were quoted: 56
single people on the housing list for Dunmanway, 41 for Clonakilty and
41 for Skibbereen.
Housing projects, appropriately designed and including special
facilities (such as childcare) and support for single people need to be
provided for this client group. This should be done by the Council and
by voluntary housing organisations such as Carbery Housing Association,
working in partnership with the agencies responsible for these groups.
Such projects could bring in additional resources for support from other
relevant agencies, such as FAS and the Department of Social, Family and
Community Welfare.
- ELDERLY PERSONS, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, TRAVELLERS.
There are other groups in the community with special needs and
appropriate and innovative arrangements for their housing are also
needed. Elderly persons require housing with an adequate level of
support, but also need to be part of a community. Persons with
disabilities need housing that is adapted to their needs and access to
appropriate care services, but again as part of a community rather than
in isolation. Council housing has not always been appropriate for
Traveller families, and immigrants and refugees might also need special
arrangements.
The development of proposals to meet these special needs can only be
developed through dialogue and partnership with the relevant
representative organisations and agencies working with these client
groups This needs a bottom-up approach to the designing homes, and to
the provision of appropriate facilities. Also the development of support
services, training and employment opportunities around the development.
Partnership with relevant agencies should be ongoing and developed on a
project by project basis. Voluntary housing organisations, because of
their local links, are ideally suited to this approach.
Carbery Housing Association endorses the principle of "Lifetime
Homes", that is houses that are initially designed so that they can
be modified according to the changing needs of residents. This includes
building roof of sufficient strengths so that they can be adapted to
hold hoists, building doors sufficiently wide that wheelchairs can go
through, providing ramps where appropriate, providing accessible
sanitary facilities.
- SOCIAL HOUSING AND OWNERSHIP.
Social housing needs to be redefined to remove the stigma attached to
the term. This stigma has already become an obstacle to development, and
many promising schemes have been blocked simply because of objections to
the perceived impact of social housing. In other instances prospective
buyers refusing to purchase in estates where social housing is planned.
This stigma is often associated with social exclusion and lack of
economic and social possibilities, and is exacerbated by building social
housing without proper facilities and in isolation from the rest of the
community. This has given many developments an institutional character
and increased resentment by residents and antagonism by neighbours. We
are convinced that this stigma can be counteracted by involving future
residents to a greater extent in the design and development of their
housing and, in consultation with the local organisations, developing
resources and opportunities for community development, cultural and
economic activity, nature and leisure pursuits.
A number of socials housing projects, in Ireland and Europe, have
already achieved this. There are excellent examples that can be drawn
on, where future tenants have been involved in site-selection, layout,
design and building of their own homes. Also where innovative training
and employment projects (similar to those funded by FAS), can help
create additional skills and a better standard for the finished housing.
So far such arrangements have been frowned upon by the CIF, but we
believe they make sense in terms of training future construction
workers. We are convinced this approach would make tenants into
"stakeholders" and create a sense of ownership that would
bring many additional benefits.
- SUSTAINABILITY
Social housing is a one of the largest capital investments carried
out by the State. It involves a large investment financial and human
resources, and has a significant impact on the environment. Domestic
house building and running is responsible for the production of most CO2
emissions, and therefore is a major contributor to global warming.
Housing is also a major source of the creation of waste, both solid and
liquid, and can therefore contribute greatly to the pollution and
degradation of the environment.
For these and other reasons housing, both social and private, should
not be planned and developed without due consideration of environmental
issues. Social and affordable housing in particular should set an
example to the private sector, by being sustainably designed and
constructed, efficient in terms of energy, by making use renewable
materials (such as timber) and recycled materials (such as sheep’s
wool for insulation). It should minimise energy consumption, explore
renewable energy use, and contribute toward the protection and
regeneration of the natural environment, in harmony with the principles
of Local Agenda 21.
We endorse the principles put forward by the Cork Environmental
Forum, particularly the points made in "Position Paper 4 – County
Sustainable Housing Policy", which we assume the Local Authorities
are familiar with. We would like to see these principles become
mainstream requirements for housing production in the area.
- HOLIDAY HOMES.
