Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.

The Cabinet committee on housing last met on Thursday, 11 July. The next meeting of the Cabinet committee will take place shortly. I believe it will be at the start of October. The committee works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the implementation of Housing for All and programme for Government commitments regarding housing. The significant uplift in the supply of new homes in 2022 and 2023 has continued this year. More than 12,700 new homes were completed in the first half of the year - I think the figure is 12,730 - with independent analysis forecasting delivery of between 35,000 and 40,000 new homes in 2024. The Government still expects to deliver nearly 40,000 homes this year.

The future delivery pipeline is also strong. Construction started on almost 50,000 new homes - 49,613, to be specific - in the 12 months to the end of July. Commencements in the first seven months of this year alone are up over 90% on the same period last year. Planning permission was granted for almost 38,000 new homes in the year to end quarter 1 2024, with figures for quarter 2 expected later this week. There are 25,000 new social homes at various stages of design and construction.

On the planning reform agenda, the Planning and Development Bill will return to this House in early October for Final Stage. I think it will go before the Seanad next week. The Bill, once enacted, will enable house building at scale and the development of critical infrastructure at pace. On State lands, I will officially open the first new social and affordable homes at Shanganagh Castle estate later this week. This joint partnership between the Land Development Agency and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council will deliver almost 600 new social and affordable homes once complete.

Earlier this month, in another important partnership, the LDA and Dublin City Council received planning permission for more than 700 new homes in Cherry Orchard. Many more large-scale housing developments will proceed to planning or construction before the end of the year and in the time ahead. The Government's Housing for All plan is supporting first-time buyers across the country. First-time buyer mortgage data shows that almost 15,000 approvals and over 11,200 drawdowns, respectively, were recorded in the first half of this year. In a further demonstration of our commitment to first-time buyers, last week we pledged a further €100 million to the first home scheme. Since its launch, 5,400 individuals and couples have availed of the scheme. There were over 1,600 approvals in the first half of this year, which is an increase of 42% compared to the same six months last year. So far in 2024, there have been 5,882 claims under the help-to-buy scheme, an increase of 23% on the same period in 2023. It is interesting to see what today's Central Bank report states about the importance of that scheme in terms of assisting first-time buyers.

Tackling vacancy and dereliction is a continuing focus under Housing for All. More than 9,600 applications have been received for the vacant property refurbishment grant, with more than 6,300 approved and 730 grant drawdowns following completion of works to date. Work is well advanced on revised Housing for All targets for 2025 onwards, consistent with the draft revised national planning framework. These revised targets, averaging over 50,000 new homes per year, will be published in the coming weeks, together with an annual update on the Housing for All action plan, which will be focused on scaling up delivery to achieve these higher targets. The update will also take account of the analysis under way by the Housing Agency of the Housing Commission's recommendations. In advance of the update, I look forward to details of the housing package being announced as part of budget 2025 on this day in two weeks.

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