NAMA needs to help ordinary citizens as well

Ireland’s leading housing charity argues that the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) must still contain a “social dividend” in order to assist Irish families. Respond! Housing Association contends that the Agency should work with the social housing sector in order to help those in urgent need of housing.

According to Respond! Housing Association spokesperson Aoife Walsh it is essential that NAMA also assists ordinary people who have been deeply affected by the economic downturn.
“It is vital that the social housing sector is not forgotten following today’s announcement. In order to lessen the perception that NAMA is merely ‘bailing out developers’, the Agency should work with the social housing sector in order to assist struggling families. It could be argued that the only real housing market at the moment is the social housing market as private demand has been virtually wiped out. With Local Authority housing waiting lists increasing on a monthly basis, NAMA could help to increase supply through partnership with the voluntary housing sector.”

Respond! Housing Association maintains the sector could help to generate an income for NAMA, one of the key objectives of the Agency. Through the new Long Term Leasing initiative proposed by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, social housing providers such as Respond! Housing Association could lease or purchase some of the so-called ghost estates. Many of the loans relating to these estates will soon be transferred to NAMA.

The housing charity claims this is a good solution in the short to medium term but there should be another role played by NAMA in the longer term. According to Respond! Housing Association the vast land banks soon to be under the control of the Agency should be used for future social housing needs where careful design and planning will deliver good quality, integrated and well-resourced housing estates.

“The needs of those we are looking to house must be of utmost importance and the suitability of estates under the control of NAMA must be closely examined. It goes without saying the location of these estates is critical. They need to be in areas with good infrastructure, transport links, education and childcare facilities and social amenities. Most importantly, these estates need to be in an area where a very real and genuine need for social housing exists. As much as possible, it is important that estates can be integrated so as to create sustainable, vibrant communities and leave behind the ghetto estates of the past” concluded Walsh.

The housing charity contends that the social housing sector should be fundamental to any housing policy in the future. A co-ordinated approach that encompasses all stakeholders and takes account of the needs of those on Local Authority Waiting lists, as well as private renters and purchasers is crucial.