Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Stanton for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. He has asked me to pass on his apologies to the Deputy for being unavailable to take this matter himself.

The Housing for All strategy delivers on the programme for Government commitment to step up housing supply and to put affordability at the heart of the housing system, with an ambitious target of 300,000 homes to be built over the next decade, including social, affordable and cost-rental, private rental and private ownership housing. In the Housing for All policy from 2022 to 2026, the Minister has targeted more than 28,000 affordable homes to be delivered by local authorities, approved housing bodies, AHBs, the Land Development Agency, LDA, and through a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.

Local authorities have been asked to prepare housing delivery action plans. To address affordable housing needs in these plans, each local authority was asked to assess the level of housing demand with affordability constraints projected for their areas based on the housing need and demand assessment, HNDA, tool, and to plan their provision accordingly. Local authorities with a strong and identified affordable housing need, including Cork County Council, were asked to prepare specific affordable delivery action plans. An identified high-level housing need arises where the HNDA indicates that, of the total projected need for housing in the county, more than 5% of new households will not qualify for social housing and will also be constrained in assessing housing by their ability to afford to buy or rent.

Through the various delivery streams it has activated, the Government aims to provide over 28,000 affordable homes by the end of 2026. Five-year delivery targets for local authority-led or arranged delivery were issued to relevant local authorities, including Cork County Council, for 2022 to 2026, amounting to just over 7,500 homes. In addition to the targeted local authority delivery, further affordable housing will be delivered by AHB cost-rental schemes, LDA schemes on State lands and via Project Tosaigh and the first home affordable purchase equity scheme, which will be launched shortly and available nationwide until 2026.

The targets set for local authority delivery are aligned with the level of affordable housing need arising in these areas and as determined by the HNDA tool. Of course, where local authorities, including Cork County Council, have identified a demand and can secure delivery of a higher number of affordable housing units in an area, additional delivery supported by the affordable housing fund, AHF, is welcome. The funding to assist local authority and AHB delivery of affordable housing for purchase and rent is made available by the Government, through the AHF, previously known as the serviced sites fund, SSF, and the cost-rental equity loan, CREL, scheme.

The Minister's Department recently received four applications from Cork County Council, as Deputy Stanton said, for a subsidy to support housing schemes with affordable housing provision. Two of these applications are for sites situated in Clonakilty, and one each in Kinsale and Mallow. If approved, these projects will cumulatively assist in the delivery of 337 affordable houses, 277 of which will be for affordable purchase, while the remaining 60 will be cost-rental homes. The assessment process for these schemes is nearing completion and the Minister's Department will be writing to Cork County Council soon regarding these four applications.

One of Deputy Stanton's questions was why this process was taking so long. Housing delivery action plans are now being revised and updated by local authorities in light of the targets set and other ongoing engagement and clarifications. I expect these will be ready for publication by the local authority shortly. Cork County Council's plan will provide a comprehensive overview of the assessed need for affordable housing and projected delivery across County Cork.

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