RIAI Statement on Housing for All

The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) welcomes the scale and ambition of the newly published Housing for All, A new Housing Plan for Ireland.

The RIAI looks forward to working with Government to deliver the plan, however, it would like to see clarity and more progress on some issues.

?Procuring for Quality

It is vitally important that the structures and resources are in place to ensure Ireland delivers on these ambitions without compromising on quality. This will involve measures such as:

• Having adequate architectural expertise and resources in Local Authorities throughout Ireland and in Government Departments to deliver this plan. Ireland is currently struggling with a severe shortage of professional staff.
• Government ensuring that Irish Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and micro businesses are not excluded from the procurement system. Irish businesses need to be supported in delivering Housing for All.
• Ensuring Government invests in digital systems to make sure that all systems are streamlined and accessible.

Aligning Government Policies

RIAI are calling on Government to ensure taxation and fiscal policy is aligned with the Government’s vision for housing, particularly for development in Irish towns and villages. Previous reports have shown that VAT intake on an apartment block is 5 times that per hectare than conventional semi-detached homes.

There is a huge opportunity to bring back homes in our towns and villages and the Government should be co-ordinating all available funding to make this streamlined for applicants.

RIAI will continue to call for the review of public contracts and consultants’ appointments to remove unnecessary adversarial provisions and to increase the focus on quality.

Barriers and Uncertainty

Architects are experiencing huge challenges with Professional Indemnity Insurance with cover increases of 400% and policy exclusions. There is an urgent need to address this to ensure that the profession can deliver homes.

RIAI has proposed efficient and effective measures in this regard, in particular the introduction of a mandatory or statutory quality Latent Defects Insurance to protect the consumer.

The RIAI calls on Government to ensure costs are reduced by reducing bureaucracy thereby increasing certainty and efficiency in the systems.

The RIAI welcomes the commitment to deliver the Construction Industry Register Ireland?(CIRI) which it has been calling for since 2013.

We look forward to working with Government to deliver on the ambitions of this plan.?