“The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) is very pleased to be hosting our first in-person annual social housing conference since 2019. The current challenges facing public and private residential construction are increasingly more complex and systemic, and this urgently requires a cohesive national response from the private, not-for-profit and state sectors. Our conference brings the people and skills together who can and must respond to the critical housing needs of our population through affordable and sustainable solutions”. So says Donal McManus, CEO of the Irish Council for Social Housing, at the ICSH Biennial Finance & Development Conference, sponsored by AIB, in Sligo on 19-20 October 2022.
Approved housing bodies (AHBs) have a central role under the government’s Housing for All plan. Our sector’s targets are to deliver 40% of the 9,500 social homes to be delivered annually and one-third of the 2,000 cost rental homes to be built annually to 2026; these are challenging but achievable targets. However, supply chain issues and spiralling inflation are impacting on current AHB delivery and pipeline projections. So, more than ever, sustainable financing models are key for AHBs to deliver on this multi-annual social and cost rental housing programme, a programme that represents a long-term response to increasing cost-of-living pressures for Irish households. At the conference, the ICSH will launch a ‘strategic financial road map’, designed to enable AHBs to continue to deliver social, affordable and supported housing at scale in accordance with the government’s Housing for All action plan.
Cathy Bryce, Managing Director of AIB Capital Markets said: “AIB continues to be fully committed to social housing as a force for environmental and social good. We recognise the ambitious social housing plans set out by government and we are determined to play our part in helping them achieve those ambitions. That’s why AIB is delighted to be the main sponsor of the ICSH annual conference once again. We look forward to the sharing of ideas and the development of solutions from a broad range of attendees at this year’s event.”
At the ICSH Biennial Finance & Development Conference – Leading the Housing Sector Towards a Sustainable Financial Future, we will hear from a range of speakers on key themes emerging for the private and public housing sectors that include sustainable financing solutions; innovative and affordable housing delivery; vacancy, retrofitting and revitalising town and urban centres; and collaborative solutions to secure the future of the AHB sector. A video welcome from Mr Darragh O’Brien TD, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, will open the two-day conference, supported by AIB, which brings together more than 300 leaders and innovators from the public, private and non-profit sectors, including active AHBs.
The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH), the national federation for non-profit housing associations, will hold its Biennial Social Housing Finance & Development Conference, Leading the Housing Sector Towards a Sustainable Financial Future, sponsored by AIB, on Wednesday and Thursday, 19th & 20th October in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Sligo. The full programme for the conference is available at: https://icsh.ie/wp-content/
