Mr. Eddie Taaffe:

To be clear, the original assessment of the affordability gap in 18 local authorities was when the affordable housing fund was initially launched back in 2022. Those targets were distributed pro rata to the 18 local authorities. That situation has now changed and it changed quite quickly. It was identified that if a local authority could make a case for an affordable housing fund outside of the 18 local authorities, they were eligible to apply. Now all local authorities are eligible to apply and make a business case for access to the affordable housing fund.

The other point is that the targets were very much an initial distribution of what was felt with regard to the overall national target but I think local authorities are now trying to do as much affordable as they can. Those targets are seen as an absolute minimum and in some cases they are just not working to those. They are trying to do as much affordable housing as they can. To be fair to our colleagues in the Department, if any local authority puts in an application for the AHF fund, they have a business case, it stacks up and it meets the criteria with regard to the numbers, the subsidy etc., then they have been approved for those schemes and are progressing them. It is working-----