Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 to 10, inclusive, together.

The next meeting of the Cabinet committee on housing will take place in October.

The committee works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the implementation of Housing for All and the delivery of programme for Government commitments regarding housing and related matters. We are now entering the third year of the implementation of Housing for All. The plan is working with strong performance on many indicators, including new home commencements and completions. Despite considerable challenges in the external environment, building started on almost 30,000 new homes in the 12 months to the end of August and in the first half of this year, a record 14,000 homes were completed, which was an increase of almost 6% on the same period last year. Those comparisons apply to the period since the current way of counting began in 2011. This, coupled with the trend over the past decade of more houses being built in the second half of the year, means we are confident that the target for delivery of 29,000 homes in 2023 will be met and probably exceeded. The future pipeline is also positive, with planning permission granted for over 20,000 new homes in the first half of this year alone.

Under the plan, we have introduced affordable purchase initiatives, including the first home scheme, the local authority home loan, the local authority affordable purchase scheme and Project Tosaigh. We have also extended the help-to-buy scheme. We are now seeing very large numbers of first-time buyers purchasing homes for the first time, with more than 700 first-time buyer mortgages approved every week. The Government has responded to the financial viability challenges facing the residential construction sector as a result of high inflation and rising interest rates. The Croí Cónaithe city scheme is supporting the building of apartments for sale to owner-occupiers and the new secure tenancy affordable rental, STAR, scheme will assist developers to build over 4,000 cost-rental homes. We are working to reduce vacancy with a grant of €50,000 to bring vacant properties back into use and €70,000 for derelict properties.

As well as these schemes, a major emphasis for the remainder of the year and into 2024 will be on measures to improve the long-term sustainability of the sector, including through the adoption of modern methods of construction and enhanced capacity. The planning and development Bill will also be brought before the House in the coming weeks.

Housing for All includes a provision to review and update actions in the plan on an annual basis and work is ongoing on the second annual update, which will be considered by the Cabinet committee in October.

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