House demolition should be the very last resort for NAMA

Ireland’s leading housing charity maintains that knocking down houses and estates should be the very last resort for NAMA. Respond! Housing Association contends it is crucial that a national audit of all ghost estates and empty properties is conducted before demolition is even considered. With rising Local Authority housing waiting lists, the housing charity argues now is the time to deliver on the “social dividend” remit promised some months ago by the National Management Asset Agency.

According to Respond! Housing Association spokesperson Aoife Walsh a detailed analysis of all ghost estates and empty properties is needed before all options are considered.
“At the moment we are receiving conflicting reports on how many empty properties are located throughout the country, with numbers ranging from 40,000 to 345,000. It is vital we know exactly how many empty properties there are, where they are located, what condition they are in and what services and transport links are available in the surrounding area. With housing need at its greatest in living memory, NAMA needs to engage with the social housing sector. With so many empty houses, there is an opportunity now to significantly reduce the estimated 100,000 families on Local Authority housing waiting lists.”

Respond! Housing Association is calling on NAMA to consider the social gain that could be achieved through the utilisation of these empty houses by Local Authorities and Housing Associations. The housing charity hopes the Agency considers the different options of selling, leasing, holding, developing or managing these estates before deciding to demolish them.

“Respond! Housing Association understands that NAMA must take a commercial view and obtain value for money for the taxpayer. However, this can still be achieved by engaging with the social housing sector. 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. Through the 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” added Walsh.

“From our experience, there are few empty estates with no residents at all. However, we have come across many, many estates with only a handful of people living in them and we would ask what NAMA proposes for them? We should be trying to create vibrant, sustainable communities for these people and that is why we would consider knocking down houses as the very last resort” concluded Walsh.

Respond! Housing Association also claims there could be another role played by NAMA in the longer term. According to the housing charity 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.