7 Housing. 7.1 Voluntary/co-operative housing. 7.2 Affordable housing & Shared Ownership

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1 7 Housing In Ireland housing for people in need can take the form of local authority housing (already discussed in Chapter 2), housing provided by a housing association or shared or affordable housing. 7.1 Voluntary/co-operative housing Apart from the local authority, there are more than fifty approved voluntary housing bodies providing rented accommodation in Co. Kildare. Voluntary and co-operative housing is an important element of the overall response to national housing need. It fills gaps in the housing system, increases the supply of good quality rental housing and contributes to social balance. Housing authorities play a key enabling and administrative role in the operation of capital funding schemes. Kildare County Council has a role in encouraging an increased output by voluntary and co-operative housing associations to meet overall housing need in Co. Kildare. There are over 50 approved housing bodies registered in Co. Kildare. There are 1,900 houses in Kildare that are rented to persons in need of housing by voluntary bodies, such as, Respond, Oakley Housing Trust and the St. Vincent de Paul. Voluntary housing is distributed throughout Co. Kildare (Map 52) but the major concentrations are in the urban areas of Newbridge, Maynooth, Kildare and Rathangan. The EDs with the highest proportions of voluntary housing are Newbridge Urban (6.1%), Maynooth (6.0%), Athy West Urban (5.2%) and Kildare (4.8%). 7.2 Affordable housing & Shared Ownership The affordable housing scheme was introduced in 1999 on foot of the recommendations of the first Bacon Report (Bacon & Associates, 1998). When the scheme was established it was envisaged that the majority of output under the scheme would be in urban areas where rising house prices had meant that many persons couldn t afford to buy a home. To qualify for Affordable housing applicants must me first time buyers (certain limited exceptions apply). Applicants must also be in permanent employment for at least one year prior to application. There are also income limits: where applicants have just a single income, it should not exceed a55,000 in the previous tax year, in a two income household, the income should not exceed a75,000 in the previous tax year. There are three different types of Affordable Housing schemes: 1) Houses built on Kildare County Council owned lands Kildare County Council Affordable Housing Scheme; 2) Apartments in private residential developments Part V Affordable Housing Scheme; 3) Housing built on lands made available by the Government Affordable Housing Initiative. The terms of the 1999 affordable housing scheme also include an anti-profiteering measure in order to prevent the quick resale of houses bought under the scheme for substantial profit. There are 1,133 persons on Kildare County Councils Affordable Housing List. Of these, 321 (28.3%) have addresses outside of the county. Map 53 indicates the locations of those within Co. Kildare who are currently on Kildare County Councils Affordable Housing List. From the map it can be seen that the majority of applicants come from the north east of the county and in the area just north of Kildare and Newbridge. Map 54 indicates the areas that those looking for affordable housing most commonly put as their first preference. From the map it can be seen that the most applicants are looking for housing in Celbridge, Leixlip, Newbridge, with Clane, Kilcock and Maynooth slightly less popular. 99

2 The Shared Ownership scheme was introduced in 1991 to allow qualified persons buy either a new or second-hand dwelling in partnership with the local authority (Shiels, et. Al, 2007). The scheme is designed to enable persons on low to middle incomes who would not otherwise qualify for a mortgage to obtain a house of their choice. The purchase is financed by part mortgage and part rental equity. The applicant is required to take at least 40% mortgage of the purchase price and rent the remainder from Kildare County Council. The maximum loan is a185,000 and the maximum purchase price is a220,000. In 2007, there were Kildare County Council received 163 shared ownership applications and 110 persons purchased houses through the Shared Ownership scheme. A further persons are currently approved and looking for houses. 100 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare

3 Map 52: Rented voluntary housing as a percentage of total housing,

4 Map 53: Persons on Kildare County Councils Affordable Housing List as a percentage of total persons, A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare

5 Map 54: Preferential Locations for Affordable Housing Applicants 103

6 7.3 Homelessness According To Kildare County Council data there were 210 persons who presented as homeless to Kildare County Councils Homeless Outreach Workers in Table 39 illustrates the gender breakdown of those who have presented as homeless. The vast majority of homeless persons in Co. Kildare are males, at 53%, followed by females, at almost 38% and couples at just over 8%. Table 39: Homeless persons by gender in Co. Kildare Gender Number Percentage Female Male Male & Female Couple 18 (9 couples) 8.1 Total 206 Kildare County Council Housing Section, 2007 Table 40 indicates the family composition of those who were homeless in Kildare in Of those that provided information on their family status the vast majority (58.4%) were single. However, what is a concern is that almost 12% of those who presented as homeless in 2007 described themselves as families and more than 12% were lone parents. Table 40: Homeless persons by family status in Co. Kildare Family Status Number Percentage Cohabiting Family Lone Parent Married Parent Single Widowed Separated Total 185 Kildare County Council Housing Section, This is likely to be an underestimation of those homeless in Kildare as those who re-present to the service are not included in this overall figure. Also there are likely others who outreach workers are not aware of and who are not engaging with services. 104 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare

7 Table 41 highlights whether or not persons presenting as homeless were offered emergency accommodation and if so what followed from this. For almost one third of those presenting as homeless emergency accommodation was not deemed appropriate or necessary. More than a quarter of homeless people in Kildare went to a hostel and just under 15% refused hostel accommodation when it was offered to them. Almost 14% were housed in emergency B&B accommodation. Table 41: Homeless persons by emergency accommodation in Co. Kildare Emergency Accommodation Number Percentage B&B accommodation Barred from Hostels Hostel and B&B Hostel accommodation Hostel refused Hotel Referred to Homeless Persons Unit Dublin Not appropriate Other Directed to another local authority Private rented accommodation Directed to repatriation in Dublin Living rough Staying with a friend or relative In treatment in residential addiction centre Total 174 Kildare County Council Housing Section, Foreign national, directed to repatriation in Dublin 105

8 7.4 Traveller accommodation Information from Kildare County Councils periodic survey of Traveller Accommodation and Travellers Long Term Residency indicated that on 1st October 2007, 43 traveller families in Kildare were living in standard Local Authority estates, a further 16 families were living in private rented housing, three families were living in shared housing, one family lived in a self owned house or site, one family lived in a homeless hostel and one family were living in a Respond house). A further 39 families were living in traveller specific accommodation as follows: 30 in halting sites, 8 in group housing and 1 in a temporary halting site. Thirteen traveller families were on the roadside in Co. Kildare, with four families long-term roadside residents and nine families that were categorised as non long-term roadside resident. The Kildare County Council Traveller Accommodation Programme includes a range of measures designed to address the accommodation needs of Travellers including provision of: Standard housing Group housing Residential caravan parks Temporary halting sites Loans/grants for replacement mobile homes House purchase loans Transient halting sites. (Kildare Traveller Interagency Steering Group, 2007) 7.5 Houses without central heating Kildare has a higher proportion than the State of households with central heating (Table 42). 3.4% (or 3,905 households) of permanent private households in Co. Kildare were without central heating in 2006, compared with 9.3% for the State. Table 42: Houses without Central Heating 2006, Kildare compared with the State (percentages in brackets) Central Heating Kildare State Permanent Private Households with Central Heating 55,243 (91.2) 1,288,261 (88.1) Permanent Private Households without Central Heating 3,905 (6.4) 136,155 (9.3) Not Stated 1,430 (2.4) 37,880 (2.6) Total 60,578 1,462,296 Source: CSO, A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare

9 Map 55 illustrates that the households with no central heating are mainly located towards western and southern parts of the county. The EDs with more than 14% of households without central heating were Kilberry, Ballybacken and Ballysax East. There is currently a Central Heating Programme being run by Kildare County Council which aims to ensure that all Local Authority Housing in Co. Kildare would have some form of central heating. This would ensure that the approximately 900 local authority houses that were identified as having no central heating would have either gas, oil or solid fuel central heating. 3,905 households were identified as having no central heating in Co. Kildare in This programme will be providing 23% of those households with central heating. Naas Town Council completed a similar Central Heating Programme for their older housing stock between 1999 and 2002 and Athy Town Council have also taken steps to ensure central heating for many of their tenants. For those remaining households who do not have central heating there are Housing Aid for Older People Grants for central heating, windows, fascia & soffits, guttering repairs and insulation for those aged over 60 years and based on income. 7.6 Time on housing waiting lists Chapter two highlighted the numbers and locations of persons on various housing waiting lists in Co. Kildare and identified them as a vulnerable group in terms of poverty. Data from the Housing Section of Kildare County Council for those on the housing list at the end of 2007 suggests that the average waiting time (for those currently on the housing list) is 26.3 months (or approximately 1 year and 2 months). 107

10 Map 55: Locations of Permanent Private Households without Central Heating 108 A Poverty Profile of Co. Kildare