Finneran welcomes Labour ‘support’  for Long Term Leasing Initiative

“I’m delighted that the Labour Party has finally recognised the potential for making economic necessity and social need work in tandem by utilising unsold housing stock to accommodate families in need of social housing support. This is exactly what I have been doing for a number of months now through a new approach to the delivery of social housing which involves a shift in focus increasingly towards long term leasing arrangements, with a lesser reliance on construction and acquisition. While Deputy’s Gilmore’s apparent support for this type of policy is welcome, it’s a bit of stretch for him to try to repackage a policy initiative that I originally announced almost 12 months ago as fresh thinking on the part of the Labour Party.”

The purpose of the new leasing arrangements is to provide a wider range of supply options to authorities to meet housing need. In addition, while taking advantage of the greater availability of private stock for rental, the use of leasing will allow for more efficient and effective use of available public resources and will maximize the levels of social housing that can be achieved.

The Minister said that in progressing the leasing initiative, he would be working closely with NAMA to ensure that the process of restoring the public finances and of securing the future stability of the Irish banking system yielded the maximum social dividend.