Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the nine year period of the plan to 2030. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes to be facilitated by Local Authorities, Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), the Land Development Agency (LDA) and through First Home, a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.

Following the publication of Housing for All in September 2021, I asked all local authorities to prepare Housing Delivery Action Plans. 18 local authorities, including Carlow, were asked to include their affordable housing delivery projections in those Plans, in line with overall affordable housing need identified in their areas and the five-year Affordable Housing delivery targets assigned in March 2022. A copy of Carlow County Council’s Housing Delivery Action Plan is available on their website.

The Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) is available to all local authorities to assist in responding to localised affordability need where it occurs. AHF funding approval is in place to support the provision of 20 Affordable Purchase homes at Cois Dara, Tullow Road, Carlow.

Comprehensive programme level statistics on affordable housing delivery are published quarterly by my Department at the following weblink:

www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/#affordable-housing-delivery.

These affordable delivery reports include First Home scheme data and Carlow has seen good signs of take-up to date which I anticipate will continue to be significant as the First Home scheme supports more and more households to bridge their affordability gap and buy new homes.

I anticipate that the Croí Cónaithe Towns Fund, which includes funding for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant and the Ready to Build Scheme, will prove valuable in addressing overall affordability needs in Carlow. A vacant homes officer is 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.

My Department, together with the Housing Agency, and the Housing Delivery Coordination Office of the Local Government Management Association, continues to liaise with local authorities, including Carlow, in relation to their ongoing development of affordability programmes that will respond effectively to identified affordability needs.