Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes:

— that Housing for All - a New Housing Plan for Ireland, now in its third year of implementation, sets out a comprehensive suite of actions aimed at addressing affordability in the housing sector and that supply, which is critical to achieving this, has increased significantly since its publication in September 2021;

— that almost 33,000 new homes were built in 2023 alone, more than 109,000 new homes have been built between 2020 and the end of Q1 2024;

— that in the first quarter of 2024 11,956 new homes commenced, a 63 per cent increase on the same period in 2023 and the highest number of quarter 1 commencements since the data series began in 2015;

— with more than 18,000 new homes commenced in April, some 53,000 homes have started on site in the year to the end of April, with approximately 350 units starting on site every working day so far this year;

— a likelihood that the substantial uplift in delivery in 2022 and 2023 will be sustained this year and that a there is a robust new home supply pipeline for 2025 and 2026, underpinned by rebounding planning permissions in 2023 and an extraordinary surge in commencements between January and April this year on the back of the Government's development levy waiver; and

— that the Government is providing €5.1 billion capital investment in 2024, the highest level of funding for housing in the history of the State, to accelerate the delivery of new homes and increase the supply necessary to reduce homelessness and moderate house and rental prices;

further notes:

— that the number of market purchases of new homes by households has increased year-on-year, from 38,000 in 2020 to more than 53,000 in 2023, with the share of purchases also increasing from 76 per cent to 80 per cent in that period;

— that the number of homes purchased by first-time buyers has increased from 12,644 or 25 per cent of all market purchases in 2020, to 17,435 or 28 per cent in 2023;

— at the same time, the increase in the share of market purchases by households, and in particular first-time buyers, is mirrored by a decrease in the share of such purchases by non-households from 24 per cent to 20 per cent over that timeframe;

— strong first-time buyer activity reflected in mortgage approval and mortgage drawdown activity in 2023 and 2024 to date, with recent Banking and Payment Federation of Ireland data suggesting there were more than 30,400 first-time buyer approvals in 2023, this is an increase of 9 per cent on the previous year;

— more than 6,400 mortgage applications approved for first-time buyers in Q1 2024, with the number of approvals in the 12 months to end-March 2024 showing an 8 per cent increase on the previous year;

— record growth in mortgage drawdowns by first-time buyers in 2023, with some 25,600 mortgages drawdown in the period, the highest annual level since 2007, this represented some 500 first time buyer drawdowns every week in 2023;

— that mortgage drawdowns to year end-March 2024 exceeded 25,000, remaining broadly on a par with drawdowns by first-time buyers in the previous 12-month period;

— the introduction of measures in 2021 to disincentivise the inappropriate bulk purchasing of new homes by investment funds, including a higher 10 per cent stamp rate for certain bulk purchases of residential properties and planning guidelines to restrict the bulk purchase of houses for planning applications lodged following their introduction in May 2021; and

— that between May 2021 and December 2023 planning permissions for some 40,827 new homes had the new 'owner-occupier' guarantee attached, restricting bulk buying by, or multiple sales to, a single purchaser;

recognises that an increased delivery of affordable homes is at the heart of Housing for All - a New Housing Plan for Ireland and welcomes that:

— over 4,000 affordable housing supports were delivered in 2023 via Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), local authorities, the Land Development Agency (LDA), through the First Home Scheme, the Cost Rental Tenant-in-Situ Scheme and the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant;

— this represents an increase of 128 per cent on 2022 activity, which saw the first affordable homes delivered in a generation;

— over 1,600 cost rental homes have already been delivered by AHBs, local authorities and the LDA;

— funding is approved to support the delivery of more than 4,000 affordable homes (affordable purchase and cost rental) by 21 local authorities with the support of over €332 million in grant assistance from the Affordable Housing Fund;

— over 4,000 approvals have been issued under the First Home Scheme since launch, assisting first time buyers to purchase a new home in the private market more affordably; and

— over 7,800 Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant applications have been made, with over 4,667 already approved and over 320 grants issued to date; and based on current grant approvals and timelines to complete approved works, the set target of 4,000 by 2025 will be achieved in 2025;

condemns:

— Sinn Féin's opposition to home ownership schemes that have helped over 150,000 people into their first homes to date namely: Help to Buy scheme, First Home Scheme and the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant; and

— the continued failure by Sinn Féin to publish a detailed, fully costed alternative housing plan; and

agrees that the continued implementation of Housing for All - a New Housing Plan for Ireland represents the most appropriate response to deal with the housing challenges which Ireland is now facing."

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Government's countermotion and to outline to the House the progress that has been made by the Government under Housing for All to date. I reassert the Government's commitment to tackling the affordability challenge we face in the housing sector. We recognise that those challenges are having a real impact on people's lives and on the nation as a whole. We understand the urgency and the need to ensure that people have safe, secure and affordable homes. We do not underestimate the scale of the task and this Government agrees that it has to continue the implementation of Housing for All, which represents the most appropriate response to deal with the housing challenges that Ireland is now facing.

This Government has made significant progress towards delivering the commitment under Housing for All. The plan is supported by more than €5.1 billion in capital investment in 2024, the highest level of funding for housing in the history of the State. Since taking office, this Government has delivered unprecedented levels of new homes, including the ramping up of affordable housing delivery. The most important target for this Government is to build new homes and increase housing supply. From 2020 to quarter 1 2024, this Government has overseen the delivery of more than 109,000 new homes. Almost 33,000 new homes were built in 2023 alone. Housing commencements are also demonstrating encouraging trends, with 11,956 homes commenced in quarter 1 2024, which is a 63% increase on the same period in 2023 and the highest number of quarter 1 commencements since the data series began in 2015. That is underpinned by the improved number of planning permissions granted and an unprecedented increase in housing commencements in April, which saw more than 18,000 new homes commence. The substantial uplift in delivery in 2022 and 2023 will be sustained this year and a robust new housing supply pipeline for 2025 and 2026 has been secured.

The record number of commencements, the highest since records began a decade ago, has supported increased activity by first-home buyers in the market while widening the provision of homes for those in need. Since 2020, the numbers of homes purchased by first-time buyers has increased from 12,644, or 25% of market purchases, in 2020 to 17,435, or 28% of market purchases, in 2023. The number of first-time buyers receiving mortgage approvals has also improved, with more than 30,400 first-time buyer approvals in 2023. This is an increase of 9% on the previous year. In addition, 2023 saw the highest annual level of mortgage drawdowns by first-time buyers since 2007, with more than 25,600 mortgages drawn down in this period.

Since the launch of Housing for All, the Government has delivered more than 5,800 affordable housing options, with 4,000 being delivered in 2023 alone. This represents a 128% increase in activity compared with the previous year, more than doubling the supply of affordable purchase and cost-rental homes and demonstrating the very real momentum that Housing for All has generated. It is important to note that 2022 delivery, from a standing start, provided the first affordable homes in a generation. Our ambition is to deliver more and working with the local authorities, approved housing bodies, the Land Development Agency and all other delivery partners, to redouble our efforts to deliver additional affordable homes.

Homeownership is clearly positioned in Housing for All as the heart of the Government's housing policy. The plan includes a comprehensive suite of measures, which are legislatively underpinned and fully funded, to better support first-time buyers to purchase homes on the private market more affordably, including the help-to-buy scheme and the first home shared equity scheme. The latter scheme, in particular, has proven to be a key support for first-time buyers nationwide. It is continuing to assist first-time buyers and other eligible home-buyers to purchase new homes and apartments in the private market. Delivery figures for quarter 1 of 2024 were recently published by the first home scheme. They show that more than 4,000 approvals have issued since the scheme was launched, with 75% of all approvals issued in Dublin, Cork, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. Furthermore, this Government approved an additional €40 million State commitment to the scheme on 23 April, continuing the drive for affordable homeownership for our citizens.

With regard to the help-to-buy scheme, to date 47,596 claims have been made, of which 46,599 have been approved. These supports are helping first-time buyers to purchase their own homes and there has been substantial growth in the number of home purchases by first-time buyers in the year to the end of March 2024. As evidenced in the Central Statistics Office, CSO, residential property price index, some 17,275 homes, including 5,384 new homes, have been purchased by first-time buyers in this period, accounting for one third of all homes purchased by households in the period.

Local authorities are delivering affordable housing, with funding approved of more than €332 million for the affordable housing fund to support the delivery of more than 4,000 affordable purchase and cost-rental homes by 21 local authorities. Such homes have been advertised in areas such as Cork city and county, Dublin, Limerick, Waterford city and other areas in the wider and greater Dublin area. In addition, with the advent of cost rental and new tenure under Housing for All, a significant number of affordable homes to rent at a cost at least 25% below the prevailing market rate have been made available nationally.

In light of the challenging environment for cost rental delivery due to rising costs, the Government has increased the financial support for the delivery of cost-rental homes by approved housing bodies to the revised cost-rental equity loan. Since these changes were made, there has been a rapid increase in the number of cost-rental homes approved, with over 3,500 cost-rental homes approved for funding to date.

This Government also introduced the secure tenancy and affordable rental investment scheme, otherwise known as STAR, which is designed to enable the delivery of cost-rental homes for the private market, with more than €750 million committed to support the affordable delivery of more cost-rental homes by 2027. Notwithstanding delivery challenges associated with the significant increase in construction costs, higher interest rates and supply chain issues, which are combining to have a real impact on the cost of housing provision, a very ambitious programme of affordable housing is now in place. Through the implementation of Housing for All, the passing of the Affordable Housing Act in 2021 and the injection of record levels of investment, we have securely laid the foundation that will allow us to continue to ramp up delivery for the coming years as the pipeline of affordable housing delivery is developed and expanded by local authorities, approved housing bodies and the Land Development Agency.

In anticipation of the review of the national planning framework and the updating of the housing needs and demands assessment by the ESRI, based on the updates of population and housing projections using census 2022 data, the Government is committed to the delivery later this year of a revised affordable housing strategy which will update pathway 1 of Housing for All.

Recognising the importance of having homes available to buy, the Government introduced measures in May 2021 to discourage the inappropriate bulk purchase of homes, including taxation, planning and other measures. These include a higher 10% stamp duty levy on the cumulative purchase of ten or more residential properties, excluding apartments, in a 12-month period. At the same time, section 28 guidelines for planning authorities - regulation of commercial institutional investment in housing ensures new own-door houses and duplex units in housing developments can no longer be bulk purchased in a way that displaces individual purchasers of social and affordable housing. This effectively requires homes and duplexes to be available for sale and first-time occupation by separate individual households for a period of years after completion. The planning measures have been particularly effective in prohibiting the bulk purchase of almost 41,000 homes between May 2021 and December 2023.

The Government is dedicated to ensuring the success of Housing for All, a plan that is delivering on its commitments to address the affordability challenges we face in the housing sector. In the countermotion the Government highlights the substantial progress that been made to date, illustrating that affordability and the chance to own a home is at the heart of the Government's housing policy. The Government will continue to implement Housing for All, which is a fully funded and legislatively underpinned plan that is already up and running and working with the intent of increasing housing supply into the future and addressing the affordability challenges that we face.

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