Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 27 May 2021

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed)

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I will happily respond to that. I was not ignoring the Deputy's question but it relates to the Affordable Housing Bill, which is not the Bill in front of us. It is a matter of caps, not targets. We are not setting affordability at the levels of the caps; rather, we are saying the cap in an area is unaffordable. The measures being introduced in the Affordable Housing Bill, such as shared equity, direct-build affordable housing, cost rental and the increase in the Part 5 proportion from 10% to 20%, will help to deliver affordability in all areas. The caps are based on the median sale price from the previous year. They are not targets. There will be houses priced well below them. Again, it is a matter for the Affordable Housing Bill, not the Bill before us. We will get to Part 9 of the latter later. The reality is that we are not setting a target of €450,000 for affordability. It is not remotely like that so I ask the Deputy to examine the Affordable Housing Bill and the regulations when we publish them. House prices will be well below the amount in question. For the first time, through the Affordable Housing Bill, genuine assistance will be afforded to those who have been locked out of buying their own home for the past several years, and they will be helped in bridging the affordability gap. That relates to the Affordable Housing Bill, which will be before the committee. I look forward to that.