Focus Ireland: NAMA must have 'social dividend'
Focus Ireland, the housing and homeless charity, has called on the Government to ensure that the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) delivers a 'social dividend'.
Focus Ireland CEO, Joyce Loughnan said: "Focus Ireland is proposing that NAMA should be given the power to undertake a ‘Land and Housing Management Strategy’. The aim would be to ensure that residential property or land that becomes the legal property of NAMA can be put to social use.
"Those responsible for devising and developing the strategy should be based in the Department of Environment and the objective of generating a 'social dividend' must be explicitly named in the legislation."
"Such a strategy would provide proactive land and asset management for the delivery of social housing.
Focus Ireland highlighted that the 2008 housing needs assessment identified nearly 60,000 households in need of social housing.
"This need is likely to have increased since the economic downturn", Ms Loughnan said.
"Apartments, houses and land are required to meet this need over time. Any course of action NAMA takes must be aligned with the City and County Development Plans."
Focus Ireland said that the introduction of NAMA provides an opportunity to make empty homes available to people who need them and to actively assemble land for future housing purposes which will allow for planned development.
"This process must also involve a strategic acquisitions programme which would support social housing providers to have first call on housing assets and suitable sites that are fit for purpose at written-down value."
