The Green Party has unveiled plans to amalgamate the Housing Agency and the Housing Finance Agency to create the National Housing Authority (NHA), to help solve the housing crisis throughout Ireland.

The party claims the NHA would deliver 20,000 housing units per year.

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Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan said: "The NHA would work closely with local authorities and housing associations to plan, finance, develop and deliver the housing stock we desperately need. The new authority would take the existing expertise developed within NAMA as that agency winds down to carry out its role.

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"The NHA would borrow on the open market, secured against the future income streams from the new and existing public housing stock. This borrowing would be off the state's balance sheet and be similar to the model used in Austria, where the same sort of housing authority provides some 22% of primary residences in that state. The borrowing would be raised against the future income streams from a 'cost rental' model of social housing.

"Funding would be provided both to the local authority and housing associations and the housing would have a much wider mix of tenants who would pay rental income at market rates."

(CD/MH)