A new £15 million fund to assist local authorities increase the supply of building land has been announced by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey. The fund is the initial response of the Government to spiralling house prices, especially in urban areas.
The special fund, which will operate over three years, is predicted to translate into a £37.5 million package when combined with local authority development levies, and will be used to expand water and sewerage facilities.
Speaking at a briefing yesterday on the 1998 Estimates, Mr Dempsey said the initiative would "send a signal to the housing market" that, in reality, there was not a scarcity of building land. A total package of £37.5 million would generate an estimated 3,700 acres of serviced land and 37,000 houses - equivalent to one year of the Department's total housing output.
Mr Dempsey said that there was anecdotal evidence that some builders were adding to the unit price of their houses by between 20 and 25 per cent to cover perceived land acquisition costs in the future. He added: "Availability of suitable serviced land for development has been identified by the construction sector, auctioneers and commentators as being a contributing factor to escalating house prices."
Spending on services in terms of roads, water supply, sewage treatment and social housing would be increased by £123 million next year. On roads, major projects envisaged by the National Roads Authority to commence in 1998 were:
bypass of Nenagh, Co Tipperary;
bypass of Kildare town;
the Limerick to Patrickswell scheme;
commencement of `C' ring/ southern cross route in south Co Dublin.
It was realistic to anticipate that construction of the `C' ring would commence next year, he said.
On the Luas light rail scheme for Dublin - towards which the Department is committing £20 million - Mr Dempsey said that, notwithstanding the report on underground options, the Government was committed to "commencing and advancing the project significantly during next year".
Large waste water treatment plants are due to commence in Dublin, Cork, Osberstown (Co Kildare), Portumna (Co Galway), Middleton (Co Cork) and in other urban centres in the Lough Ree and Lough Derg lake catchments. Drainage schemes for sewage treatment are scheduled to begin in Dundalk, Drogheda and Wexford.
The Minister of State at the Department, Mr Bobby Molloy, confirmed that the consultants asked to review housing market trends were due to report by next March.
