Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise that the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, cannot be present as he is currently at Cabinet.

The Government is opposing the motion. The Government firmly believes that home ownership is good for individuals, good for families, good for communities and good for the State. With this in mind, we have put affordability and the chance to own a home at the very heart of our housing policy. The Affordable Housing Bill, which was introduced to the Oireachtas just last night, and the Land Development Agency Bill 2021 will work together to deliver affordable homes. These two landmark pieces of legislation are backed up by the largest housing budget in the history of the State, with €3.3 billion in 2021. Some €620 million has been made available for affordability measures.

The Affordable Housing Bill has four key new elements: first, the first local authority-led direct build affordable homes on State lands in over a decade; second, our first ever national cost rental scheme; third, an innovative shared equity scheme; and fourth, the expanding of Part V and designating of units for first-time buyers. This element will be brought in on Committee Stage in Dáil Éireann following the conclusion of further work with the Attorney General and Cabinet approval. Using the Bill as its foundation, the upcoming "Housing for All" plan, which will be published this summer, will set out the ambitious range of affordable housing targets across the country.

The roll-out of local authority-led direct build affordable housing will be the central plank of the Government’s plans. Homes will range from €160,000 to €310,000. We are working with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and will shortly bring forward improvements to the €310 million serviced sites fund to ensure it can effectively fund major delivery in the State.

The Government committed to improving rental security and affordability by developing the often proposed cost rental model. We have now done this. I am pleased that the development of cost rental has been widely welcomed, including by the Opposition. Through careful controls and the deployment of public subsidies, rents which cover costs can be at least 25% below market rates, and generally 30%. This is an entirely new form of housing tenure and an exciting departure for housing in Ireland.

In February, we announced approval for the financing of 390 new homes located in Dublin, the surrounding greater Dublin area and Cork under the cost rental equity loan scheme. These homes are funded by €35 million made available in budget 2021. A further €100 million in long-term, low-interest loans has been made available by the Housing Finance Agency.

Shared equity will involve the State bridging the affordability gap by taking an equity stake of up to 20% between an individual’s mortgage limits and the price of the home. It will work in conjunction with the help to buy scheme to get people into homes this year. It will help turn generation rent into a generation that can buy their own home. It is intended that this scheme will be a short-term, targeted measure as part of a much broader multifaceted approach to increasing housing supply and affordability in the State. It will increase viability and generate supply to provide an immediate boost to first-time buyers for new homes. Taking on board legitimate concerns, safeguards are being built in to tailor eligibility to meet individual affordability needs only and to manage prices through area-based price ceilings.

It is also our intention to bring forward further changes to further strengthen the Affordable Housing Bill at Committee stage. This will include expanding Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and designating a range of units for first-time buyers. Work is underway with the Attorney General to bring these amendments forward to level the playing field for first-time buyers.

In addition, the Land Development Agency Bill is being advanced and will have a crucially important and increasing role in the delivery of more affordable homes. This will include homes for affordable purchase and cost rental, but it will also include social housing.

We are in the middle of a national housing crisis. Faced with such an emergency we need to use all tools at our disposal to address this challenge across both the private and public sectors. We need to stop letting one party’s perfect be the enemy of everyone’s good when facing a crisis. Magic bullet fantasies and cynical hysteria politics do a generation locked in a rent trap a grave disservice. We are very much aware of the breadth of the task that is facing us in this area, and are determined to take on this challenge. The Government is confident that the extensive range of measures that our three parties are introducing will increase the housing supply in the State and make housing more affordable for people across the country, and as such I reiterate our proposed revisions to the motion.

See this speech in context