The 50th Anniversary Review details the history of the National Building Agency. Initially the National Building Agency (NBA) was established with the primary objective of providing housing for workers in the wake of the national industrial drive experienced in the early 1960’s. However, the history of the NBA provides us with a much richer story. Reacting to Government policy the NBA gradually diversified, and acquired a more multifaceted role than was initially anticipated. In order to help the Government meet its housing targets it worked closely with many Government Departments and Local Authorities throughout the country. The NBA has not just provided assistance in residential housing however; it also provided expertise in urban planning and design, conservation and restoration works, a multitude of civic construction projects, and more recently in local and regional development plans.
The narrative of the Agency mirrors 50 years of successive Governments’ social housing policies. Its partnership with Local Authorities began with the supplementary construction programmes that came out of the housing crisis of the late 1960’s. In the ensuing years, the Agency went on to work with its Local Authority clients to transform blighted areas in Irish towns and cities, in so doing it set new standards in the planning and construction of social housing in Ireland. The Agency also worked extensively with voluntary and co-operative housing groups along with the Health Boards as modern Ireland’s new multifaceted approach to social housing took shape. In recent years another side to the NBA has been highlighted, as it has been at the forefront of the national drive towards the use of sustainable design techniques and the introduction of innovative energy saving practices.
In July 2009, in its report to Government, The Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes it was recommended that the NBA would be merged with three other housing Agencies; the Homeless Agency, the Centre for Housing Research and the Affordable Homes Partnership, into a single Agency. This will open a new chapter in the life of the NBA, which throughout its history, has demonstrated a unique ability to react and adapt appropriately to changing circumstances. There is no doubt that the current adverse economic climate will test this new body; however, the fifty year history of the NBA as outlined in this Review demonstrates that within its new capacity, the Agency can rise to such challenges.