LDA chair-designate Colm O'Rourke confirms to Francis the LDA's annual housing delivery target is 40,000 homes (direct builds/provision), 75% of which will be cost rental units, a Green Party housing model that was recently introduced as part of the Affordable Housing Bill 2021. This makes the LDA the largest single provider of housing.
All the units developed by the LDA in Dublin and Cork will be 100% public and social housing on public land, following the Francis' amendments to the LDA Bill. Before the Green Party entered government, the LDA target was 60% private housing on public land.
Of the 40,000 homes, we can therefore expect 30,000 cost rental homes being delivered by the LDA, in addition to the cost rental units delivered by AHBs and Local Authorities.
Francis asks the LDA officials about increasing the amount of expertise that the LDA has on sustainability, including sustainable urban design, starting with the membership of the LDA board and the need to appoint someone with a background in sustainable development.
Full transcript:
It is great to hear upfront that cost-rental is a priority in the delivery of public homes, you’re saying 75% which is excellent, and is something the Greens have been fighting for
But with that, the original projection of the LDA was 150,000 homes, will that still be the target you’re aiming for?
With respect to the membership of the LDAs Board, the old Board didn’t contain anybody with a sustainable urban design background, and that’s troubling for me. There’s a number of people on it that have a social background, but not sustainable urban design. Is there somebody coming [onto the Board] with that background? Are you aware of that?
My last question is with respect to the Terms of Reference of the LDA: will exemplar sustainable urban design measures be implemented? I understand that the LDA procured sustainable Urban design strategies for Galway from the Royal Institute of Architects Ireland (RIAI). Is there any traction with those? will they be folded into your vision for the LDA?
We’ve been talking about this as a Party, and there isn’t an exemplar in Ireland of a sustainable urban area - you’ve got Cloughjordan as an an ecovillage. It would be really good if the LDA could procure a sustainable urban site and develop that out, and then use that as an example going forward
So I’m just wondering have those LDA projects or ideas been moved forward?
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