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

I thank the Deputy for his support for the work of the Government and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Increasing the supply of housing is a priority for this Government. Last September, the Government published Housing for All, which sets us on a path of delivering 300,000 new homes between now and the end of 2030, including 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. The plan is backed by historic levels of investment with in excess of €20 billion through the Exchequer, the LDA and the Housing Finance Agency over the next five years. This will provide the sector with the stability and certainty it needs to increase supply to an average of 33,000 homes per annum.

Work undertaken in the Department during 2021 identified estimated housing supply targets of 14,000 in the Dublin region for the period 2021 to 2027, with almost half, 6,800, in the Dublin City Council area. Data published by the Department today show that 1,861 new homes were commenced in January 2022. In the past 12 months, February 2021 to January 2022, commencement notices for 31,201 new homes were received. With the exception of 2020, when significant restrictions on home building existed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of residential homes for which commencement notices were received has increased every year since 2015, the earliest year for which comparable data is available. That is a 42% increase on the number of homes for which construction commenced in 2020. Indications are that the proportion of commencements in Dublin in 2021 is on target in accordance with the national planning framework.

Under Housing for All there will be significant investment to deliver both social and affordable housing in the Dublin region. The delivery of new social homes will be an important element of this increased delivery. Housing for All includes a target to deliver an average of 9,500 new build social homes per annum over the next five years, with annual targets increasing from 9,000 in 2022 to 10,200 in 2026. In this period, 17,750 new-build social homes will be delivered in the four local Dublin local authority areas, and over 20,000 new social homes will be built, including homes delivered through long-term leasing.

To increase housing delivery and more affordable housing, we introduced the Affordable Housing Act 2021, the first ever stand-alone affordable housing legislation. This Act established a basis for four new affordable housing measures to deliver on the programme for Government commitment to put affordability at the heart of the housing system and prioritise the increased supply of affordable homes. Housing for All provides funding for the delivery of 54,000 affordable homes nationally to 2030, including 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost rental homes. The Department is in the process of reviewing the housing development action plans from the 31 local authority areas in order to finalise regional annual affordable housing targets in the period to 2026 and this process will be completed shortly.

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