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Updated 7.35pm
THE GOVERNMENT IS examining the possibility of giving the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) additional powers to build on behalf of the State.
Addressing his Fine Gael colleagues at the party’s think-in in Clonmel today, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said:
“We are examining the possibility of repurposing Nama to develop lands on behalf of the State, to step in where the private sector has failed.”
He said the government understands the stress faced by people without a home, as well as those struggling to buy one.
A Fine Gael spokesperson said: “Ireland is grappling with a problem of supply of both public and private housing. This government understands the stress faced by people without a home as well as those struggling to buy one.
The Government is therefore examining a wide range of options on how to increase the supply of both public and private housing. Minister Eoghan Murphy has already flagged a new focus on building social housing in recent weeks along with a wide range of other measures. Further announcements will follow.
“We also know that we have a body of expertise and experience in Nama that has built up over many years. Nama has completed much of the work originally assigned to it.”
The spokesperson did stress, however, that no decision had yet been made.
The idea of giving Nama (which was set up to manage distressed assets on behalf of the State during the economic crisis, and which is due to wind down in 2020) new powers has been floated before.
Last month, Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Housing Barry Cowen said the government should utilise Nama to help deliver new social housing, adding that it should be reconstituted by giving it an additional mandate to enable it to manage housing developments on publicly owned sites on behalf of local authorities.
It’s believed the government is looking for a way to borrow off the general balance sheets and that Nama could achieve this.
There had been speculation that the government might set up a new housing agency or quango, similar to that of Irish Water, but this has been ruled out by Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy.
This is the latest in a series of measures to be announced in the coming weeks to deal with the housing, homelessness and rental crisis.
In addition to the government looking at reconstituting Nama, changes to planning regulations are also on the way to make it more affordable to build in towns and cities and make it more affordable for people to buy homes, according to Varadkar.
The housing minister made a raft of announcements at last week’s housing summit, and yesterday, it was revealed that the re-introduction of bedsits is also being considered.
The government also plans to roll out of the Deposit Protection Scheme, and to crack down on landlords that retain deposits from renters.
The Taoiseach’s speech touched on a number of issues such as the future of the party, healthcare, and his idea of Ireland being a “Republic of Opportunity” – which he said is “not a slogan or empty PR”.
“It is a way of thinking about how to improve people’s lives and we’re only getting started,” he said.
Varadkar said he wanted every citizen to achieve whatever they wanted, adding that “aspiration” and “ambition” should not be “dirty words”.
In relation to the Budget, Varadkar said it will benefit middle-income earners.
Referencing the health budget, he said the HSE now has the largest budget in Irish history. As the government invests more money, he said he would be expecting more accountability.
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“where the private sector has failed” How has the private sector failed in providing affordable and social housing? Pretty sure that’s the government job not the private sector.
@B9xiRspG: the housing list is about to get a whole lot bigger!
@B9xiRspG: I can only imagine the Government expect NAMA to do what no builder had done: proved cheap houses using cheaper cost-sourced materials (as in price not quality) and undercut the market… but who is willing to build without making a profit?!
@Philip King: only if it’s social housing!
NAMA has been in existence for about 8 years or more.The homelessness crisis for a few years short of that. And now this light bulb appears in the heads of the government!?
@Con Murphy: Developers life support
@Con Murphy: we take the risk and the builders take the money.
@Con Murphy:
Ah, give Dr Leo some credit! Only in the job 100 days and he’s already swinging his reflex hammer at the right knees.
@Rory J Leonard: He was on holidays the vast majority of the 100 days with more and more holidays and gravy train perks on the way at our expense.
@Con NAMA has been used by the powers that be to engineer the shortage in supply, especially around Dublin, which then has impacted the homeless crisis also of course. Not once has NAMA been used to complete the supposed mandate it has to serve the best interests of all the people of the state
@Nigel O’Neill: so true. NAMA stated aim is to make money(unless you deposit 7 mil in an Isle of Man account). The only way to do this is to rip off house buyers. Just another way of taxing the peasants.
Leo Varadkar said Nama could ‘step in where the private sector has failed’
Not being the expert here. But it’s more like where our government has failed…
Ridiculous idea, I have no issue with my taxes being used to pay for social housing, but not another “jobs for the boys” agency. Can the government and the councils not put their heads together and solve this crisis instead of constantly kicking the can down the road
@Chris Clancy Wilson: Their kicking the can down the road cos it the terms of loan to ireland that dictates every breath every govt has taken and does take and in particular the terms that Ireland (ie taxpayer) must keep banks ( AIB, B.of Ire., PTSB, EBS, NIB and Anglo Irish capitalised to the highest international standards. terms that have not been laid before Dail in form of a bill to be made law requesting dail permission to accept the terms under art 29 5 2 of constitution. County Council do not have much money .
I live on a MUD Estate that was developed before the MUD Act came into law . There are 11 acres of lands on the estate. and 2 Site for social housing.
The council had not taken the land in charge .
The council AND developer who is in liquidation and owns the lands, were in a stalemate over the lands.
As a result of using S5 of the MUD Act 11 acres of lands are freed up and vested in co co (they are now public lands and no longer owned by developer) plus two sites for social housing and i suspect at not much cost to the tax payer .
There are 5000 estate not taken in charge. I suspect man of them are S5 Developments under the MUD Act with management companies. I suspect that homeowners also members of the OMC or the OMC are not even looking at the mud act let alone using it while lands in their own estate including site for s housing are trapped in stalemate between the council and the developer in liquidation.
The main purpose of the act oblige developer to transfer common areas to the omc but this does not not relieve developer or person owise responsible from the duty to complete the development and comply with the conditions of the pp and building regulations.
The use of the MUD Act by OMC in pre 11 estates benefit homeowner personally and taxpayer cos site for s housing as condition of the pp will also vest in co co.
Most NB there will be no complaint about how much a builder had to pay for the site They are now available for the co co to build or invite a builder n with terms etc.
If any member of omc reading this and want to inquire just post reply with details cos all this nam stuff and govt risking financing na builders .. need not be the case. .
it will /is joe soap simply asserting right under the mud act.
So they sold best assets for nothing, now they gonna buy it back for crazy money to build those houses. Well done.
FG paid developers fortunes thru NAMA all thru the recession. No money for social housing though or even RA
There is no problem, of any size anywhere, that the government isn’t capable of making even worse.
And this after they sell off all of our assetes cheaply, land, apartments, houses etc.
This should all be in our ownership now.
@Stephen Maher:
Never before has a company sold off hundreds of millions worth of land and than became a builder.
Unbelievable.
Its a vicious circle where the only one being skrewed is the taxpayer
Nama should of became social housing provider it should of rented homes to those on low income, sold to low income and reinvested the money in building more units, commercial property same principle help people who want to run their own business. It could of kept a modest local economy going keeping people in employment.
NAMA caused the problem by putting developers out of business, ceasing their assets, lumping them all together and selling them to Vulture capitalists.
Now they are playing with the idea of solving the problem they created. I don’t believe they should be managing it, they should release state assets to those who can borrow to develop.
If the government want developers to solve the problem then they need to get banks to loosen the purse strings for house buyers.
@Gareth Cooney: to be fair must developers mismanaged their businesses. However selling these assets in big chunks, rather than straight to the customer has caused this housing problem.
Lets keep the gravy train going…
Oh good God where will the crap end, mama lost us millions, and if they get this they will cost us millions,
@Mick Hannigan: No it didn’t. NAMA returned a surplus.
@Ben McArthur: Very true Ben but that surplus could have been millions higher if they sold property at the correct price.
@B9xiRspG: that surplus could have been billions recurring into the future if they had managed the assets on behalf of the pension reserve fund and been completing developments and building for the last 8 yrs. We wouldn’t have lost tradesmen and could have kept the housing market ticking over and supplied apartment and housing developments to be owned by the pensions reserve fund to provide for the state for generations and pay back the debt at the same time. Dodgy deals and cut price developments were sold to vulture funds and foreign interests while the corrupt developers continued to get paid off the backs of the population. None of this need have happened. And now they finally arrive at the idea of using NAMA. No vision, no foresight. Sickening.
@Mick Hannigan: Wrong. NAMA is going to return a profit of billions to the taxpayer.
When Lenihan set it up in September 2009, Richard Bruton from the opposition benches opposed it and said it would be a disaster. Instead we are heading for a €3 to 4 billion profit.
@Ciaran O’Mara: I never said they didn’t return a profit, they delivered deals that could have returned a very healthy profit, so they look like they are doing well because there is a profit but its not delivering the profit that it should, so there for it has lost the tax payer millions,
Haha. Leo says the gov will step in, through nama, where private developers have failed. Someone should tell him the reason why the developers failed was because the gov of that day was promoting development and giving property tax breaks to developers, supported by FG.
Should have said giving property tax breaks, fuelling the bubble in the property bubble.
If you want “affordable” housing, the way to do that is to zone and develop masses of private lands until we get to the point where there’s too much housing available and developers have to lower their prices to attract buyers.
As for “social” housing. Build outside the M50 and make available only to vulnerable people like elderly and disabled. The so-called inner city “communities” have been nothing but a disaster of anti-social behaviour and low achievement.
@Fred Jensen: I like your plan re-zoning the land for building but I can’t see elderly and disabled moving from their homes out there! And to what? New ‘communities’ of workers that are gone from 7am til 7pm, no resource centres, health supports (which take years to establish), shops, churches, public transport… it’s not just houses.
NAMA is unsuited, unequal to the task, insufficiently motivated and it has other conflicting agenda making it the worst possible agency.
Set up a central statutory authority with statutory CPO powers, fast tracked and fold the role of other public agencies into this with fast track procurement, planning and financing functions.
We need a special purpose dedicated emergency agency with powers even great than NAMA to bring focus and practical effect to solutions.
“We are examining the possibility of repurposing Nama to develop lands on behalf of the State, to step in where the private sector has failed.”-And just how long will this ‘examination’ take? I don’t believe a word out of Varadkars mouth. Let’s see blocks being laid, not lies being spun!
Someone should tell Leo, NAMA are already providing funding to developers to build on NAMA owned land. Developer builds the houses, sells them, pays back the funding to NAMA & keeps the profits for his good self.
@Pól Ling: didn’t the TV programme last night state that NAMA was responsible for a large slice of the housing crisis. Stating that it sold off large tracks of land to vulture capitalists without a development clause. They are now land hoarding as the price of land is rising without them doing anything. How can NAMA be trusted to do the right thing for the state when it has been repeatedly been proven to have interests other at heart. The state should have the most effective land zoned for development and tell the vulture capitalist that they either use it or loose it.
I.e hey lads , we can cover up the scandal that is NAMA for a good while longer if we do this .
Every developer wants to be in NAMA , they lend money to developers at a 6% interest rate as opposed to 10% to 16% from banks or lending institutions . A great government who pays its employees handsomely to sell off property and land portfolios at knock down prices .
More backhanders from the developers, go bust screw the country for billions but we’ll give you another chance.
Our friends over in fianna Fáil told us you were decent enough lads.
This is corruption.
This is Ireland 2017.
This is sick.
@Trevor Hayden: do you want more houses or not? Do you want less homeless or not?
Do you want a roof over the heads of future generations?
If you do, then wake up and smell the concrete.
@Gareth Cooney: All I can smell is bribery gareth.
@Trevor Hayden: This is Sparta!
@Honeybadger197: Not even close honeybadger, they could put up a fight.
@Trevor Hayden: Bribery nowadays is minuscule in comparison to the problem at hand and the bigger problem coming down the line after having 8 years of zero house building and an influx of Brexiteers just about to hit the city and take up all available accommodation and drive prices to the moon.
@Gareth Cooney: If it could be done legitimate gareth id agree.
A tender process, pros and cons of each contractor.
Johnny Ronan: Countless billions in debt( supposedly had his portfolio taken over by NAMA) The treasury building, home of the NTMA and NAMA owned by Johnny Ronan, 5th floor of the treasury building offices and living quarters of Mr Johnny Ronan.
Slight conflict of interest, do you not think?
@Trevor Hayden: Nama sold Treasury Holdings Battersea Power Station along with 45 acres to a Malaysian consortium for £600m
It was valued at £1.2bn the next day.
No love lost there…… Our people are just too fond of taking scalps instead arriving a suitable solutions
” to step in where the private sector has failed” How about the failure of the state to provide for its homeless citizens Leo??
FG think in oxymoron
Its a bit late after NAMA has just off all the land to property developers who wont build until the price is 50% higher.
I thought Richard Bruton was the Education Minister and not the developer’s advocate.
Nama are twisted as FIANNA FAIL
NAMA Nobody Ask Move Along
Nama probably sell the sites to vulture funds ?
I saw a fabulous cartoon once involving Moses and The Israelites. His staff is raised, he has invoked the power of The Lord and the waves of the Red Sea have parted. But he is looking over his shoulder at one of his people, asking ‘What do you mean, “It’s a bit muddy!”???”
There are people here who will NEVER be happy with ANY suggestion made by the present politicians. These people should really put themselves forward as candidates in the next election so the people get the benefit of their views.
The private sector doesn’t fail Leo.
Housing market dynamics are affected by demand and costs.
If either is out of skew then developers won’t build.
That is the beauty of free markets.
Unlike the mafia, sorry State diktat.
@Cram Wood: You are Ayn Rand and I claim my 5 pounds!
@Cram Wood: it is interesting to see how little is understood about economics. Unless we are willing to do a Cuba and isolate ourselves from the rest of the world, we need to live in the world as presented.
I always think of Ireland as a macro version of the Skelligs or other islands off the coast now deserted.
Given our precarious position, I am afraid that good old time solicitation is our only recourse. Either that or anarchy…
@Tom McHugh: just to add. I wonder how many of the commenters on this section would survive, if we decided to go down the isolation route. Their tin foil hats might struggle under the strain…
Boyle in County Roscommon would be the ideal location for social housing.
It’s about time!
This stupid gov. They want an open free market but they need high property prices to make the state finances better than they are in reality, but high house prices are causing this homeless crisis, so they’re spending billions on this crisis with very little effect, so they no want to turn to development through nama, while still promoting themselves as the gov who can give us their republic of opportunity. What a stupid bunch. They’d drive people insane!
Put all developers who can’t pay their loans into luquidation. Have a fire sale of all the assets, that would drive the price of houses down for all potential buyers . Oh wait NAMA is there to help the citizens of this country. All those who have attended the Galway tent qualify as citizens everyone else tough.
I do hope there is only one of these FG think-ins a year.
Nom nom nom nom.The developers chewing on the bones of Nama.
Great news, now we will be able to buy homes for 40c on the e1!
Same as the vultures bought the packaged Celtic Tiger mortgages from NAMA in the good old austerity days.
Get a grip ,a cara De Varad, get the local authorities in gear to provide housing, as for previous generations, refocus them on the basics in place of wasteful bow tie literary prize functions,& other expenditure which should be left to the commercial interests they serve.
We don’t need another state monopoly on top of the existing local authority structure, which will continue to do the work anyway, same as Irish Water. How many tiers of state bureaucracy does it take to build a house in Ireland?
O, my God, get rid of NAMA asap.
Nationalising social housing via NAMA is not the answer because the same size does not fir all. Co Councils & City Councils are better equipped to build and deliver social
housing as they ddi in the past and we should recognise that the nationalisation/privatisation of housing to rent by those incapable of owning has been a failure.
We should clear out and close down NAMA before Brexit because property prices may be now ‘as good as it gets”, and, besides, NAMA was always intended to an emergency
measure to protect the public interest in receiving properties from bankrupt banks and financiers. The re-emergence of a privatised AIB is evidence that the need for NAMA is finished.
Funding NAMA for social housing may constitute an illegal State Aid.
“repurposing” , silly nonsense.
Every time the gov stick there noses into anything they f**k it up will we never learn
@ed w: Vote for somebody different the next time. That’s how democracy works.
This corrupt bunch of fools the world has gone mad haven’t they caused enough trouble and Loss
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