Written answers
Thursday, 11 April 2024
Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government
Housing Provision
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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51. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the extent to which extra methods and means can be employed to provide extra housing in sufficient volume to meet requirements to address homelessness, child homelessness and family homelessness, if he continues to identify extra measures likely to positively impact in this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15395/24]
Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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52. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will comment on the provision of affordable housing in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15723/24]
Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the efforts that are being made by Clare County Council to develop an affordable housing delivery programme that will respond effectively to localised affordable housing needs that it has identified in its functional area, and in particular the key urban centres of Shannon and Ennis.
Clare County Council has prepared and published its own 5-year Housing Delivery Action Plan to meet social and affordable housing need and targets for delivery in the county. While Clare does not have a specific affordability target, it has identified localised affordability need in key urban locations where new households being formed would not be able to access housing for purchase or rent at prices/rents affordable to them.
The Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) is open and available to support local authorities to address such affordability needs identified in their area.
To date Clare County Council has received funding approval from the AHF to assist in the delivery of 10 affordable purchase homes at Shannon.
My Department continues to liaise with the housing team at Clare in relation to the development of two further affordable purchase schemes at Ennis which it intends to deliver with AHF support.
Local authorities also now complete and submit quarterly data returns to my Department on the delivery of affordable homes in their area. Quarterly and annual returns for 2022 and 2023 have been published at the following weblink:
www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/#affordable-housing-delivery.
These reports show that the First Home scheme is already playing a significant role in the delivery of affordable homes in Clare and I expect this to continue as the scheme supports more and more households to bridge their affordability gap and buy new homes.
Finally, given the profile of the county, I also anticipate that the Croí Cónaithe Towns Fund, including the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, will prove valuable in addressing overall affordability need in Clare. A vacant homes officer is now in place who can assist the public with bringing vacant homes back into use, with up to €70,000 in grant support available to do so.
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