Fórsa has said that Government’s reliance on the private sector to build social housing is “disappointing but not surprising”.

Figures obtained from the Department of Housing show that 2,706 new-build social homes were delivered up to the end of September last year, of which more than two thirds were procured directly from private developers, underscoring the State’s reliance on the private sector to deliver housing.

Only twenty-eight per cent (760 homes) were delivered directly by local authorities via the Social Housing Capital Investment Programme or by approved housing bodies through the Capital Advance Leasing Facility.

Fórsa’s head of Campaigns and ‘Raise the Roof’ organiser Kevin Donoghue said that while the figures are frustrating, they should surprise no one:

"While obviously disappointing these figures should surprise no one. Successive Governments have been increasingly reliant on the market to provide local authority housing. Continuous divestment from local authorities in favour of market forces has been a deliberate policy for decades.

"To put this in perspective local authorities delivered 9,000 units in 1975, which amounted to a third of all housing delivered that year. Raise the roof has been calling for state investment in local authority led housing for years," he said.

Fórsa has been involved with the ‘Raise the Roof’ campaign since its conception which brings together a wide range of key civil society bodies to demand radical new action on the housing crisis.

Supported by ICTU, the Raise the Rood steering committee will be meeting in the coming days to plan the year ahead.

If you’d like to find out more about the ‘Raise the Roof’ campaign and Fórsa’s involvement you can click here.