The following articles appeared in the Longford Leader from October 2007 as part of "How We Live Our Lives" series.

- Housing -

While at the present time we have unprecedented uncertainty in the housing market. This has come on the back of a phenomenal growth in our housing stock with output rising by over 600% in the period 1990 to 2006, with completions in 1990 of just over 13,000 units per annum, growing to almost 90,000 by 2006.

Complete Dwellings

The output in the last two decades has been particular striking and indeed Ireland is the envy of our European neighbours with respect our housing stock age, with over 34% of our current housing stock built since 1991 and I take this date as it this was the year in which energy efficiencies were introduced into our building regulations and the following table sets out a profile of our building stock reference 2006 Census figures;

Range	Houses	%
Before 1919	154,352	10.6%
1919 to 1940	107,645	7.4%
1941 to 1960	142,414	9.7%
1961 to 1970	112,969	7.7%
1971 to 1980	212,382	14.5%
1981 to 1990	166,021	11.4%
1991 to 1995	93,086	6.4%
1996 to 2000	154,774	10.6%
2001 or later	249,443	17.1%
Not stated	69,210	4.7%
Totals	1,462,296

From an energy perspective, no definitive current estimate regarding the extent of pre building regulations houses in Ireland exists, however comparing an SEI (Sustainable Energy Ireland) review of energy use in the residential sector, the 2006 Census figures and an ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute) on housing condition 2001-02, some useful indications can be gleamed from the extent of the condition and or thermal performance of our housing stock.

The ESRI ( Irish National Survey of Housing Quality 2001 - 2002 ) has been the most extensive in respect of our housing quality and did look at some of the issues and in particular the regional variances as can be seen from the following tables;

Main way accommodation is heated in winter expressed as percentage (Urban >5k and Rural <5k).

	Central		Mains	Open	Solid Fuel		Dual
	Heating	Oil	Gas	Fire	Stove	Electric	System
BMW Urban	90%	52%	7%	5%	5%	5%	16%
BMW Rural	87%	46%	0%	2%	15%	1%	22%
Nationally	90%	38%	26%	4%	6%	4%	12%

These figures show that 9 out of every 10 households nationally have some form of Central Heating and the report states that this figure is up from only 59% of households having Central Heating in the 1991 Census (Census 91, Volume 8-Housing, Table 15), however rural areas do not do as well and have a considerable higher level of Solid Fuel, consequent Dual Systems and have no Mains Gas. It was further indicated in this report that County Longford had the highest figures of 18% of residents with No Central Heating within the BMW Region.

On the insulation side, both Urban and Rural come in at 80% and 77% respectively for Having Wall Insulation against a National figure of 76%

Household Age profile, plus occupant age and income as percentage .

	Pre 1900	1900-1940	1941-1960	1961-1970	1971-1980	1981-1990	1991-1996	>1996
BMW Urban	5%	7%	11%	9%	16%	17%	12%	22%
BMW Rural	12%	14%	9%	6%	15%	17%	8%	19%
One person >65yrs	21%	20%	22%	9%	9%	10%	5%	5%
< €171 week	16%	17%	16%	9%	14%	11%	6%	10%
Nationally	10%	11%	11%	8%	17%	16%	10%	17%

Once again, rural areas appear to have a considerable higher percentage of pre 1900 build, however when compared to other EU countries in 2002, the Irish housing stock tends to be newer. Forty three percent of all housing had been built since 1980, compared to 13% in the UK , 21% in France , 12% in Sweden and 11% in Germany . However, the picture of Low Income and One Persons over 65 years of age is very significant in this region.

The result of our delay in introducing a mandatory energy efficiency standards in our building regulations, now means that we have the most modern housing stock in Europe built in a non energy/thermal regulated context and as such is seriously lacking the most basic energy efficiency measures. This will undoubtedly contribute to the challenge of reducing our CO2 and the migration from fossil fuels, coupled with the highest levels of fuel poverty and "excess winter deaths" in Europe .

In energy and CO 2 terms there is little doubt that pre statutory building regulations in 1990 housing stock is consuming a significant proportion of our overall residential sector energy use. Various estimates have been put forward, but it is generally accepted that pre 1990 stock (61%) may account for over 80% of the energy use and a recent survey by the writer has found that the average thermal standard for houses surveyed in this region are almost 230% above the current building standard.

Research carried in 1999 by UCD (Peter Clinch and Jonathan Healy) indicated that indoor air temperature to be a significant factor in the increased excess winter mortality in the country. The research was carried out in comparing the excess winter deaths in Ireland from cardiovascular and respiratory causes. The findings which were based on Norway noted that "excess winter mortality" (EWM) due to poor housing standards was among the highest in Europe, with just under 1,500 deaths per year attributable to EWM in the Republic of Ireland.

The findings were based on Norway (selected on the basis of best demographic fit and a superior housing standard) and correlated with similar research in the UK . A further study by SEI in 2003, found that almost 20% of houses were in need of assistance, over 62,000 were experiencing persistent fuel poverty and 165,000 were experiencing intermittent fuel poverty and there is little doubt that increasing energy costs will exacerbate this position as there is a clear correlation between fuel prices, thermal efficiency of buildings and fuel poverty.

Ray Hogan is a founder member of both Longford Environmental Allianceand Rathcline Sustainable Projects Group ( www.rspg.ie ) and a registered Building Energy Rating Assessor

LEA

Longford Environmental Alliance

- Housing -

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