Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "That 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;

- Housing for All and the Affordable Housing Act 2021, have put in place the schemes and the funding to allow Government to intervene and support households on average wages currently priced out of the new housing market;

- the Government is providing €5.1 billion capital investment in 2024, to accelerate the delivery of new homes, increase the supply and moderate house and rental prices; and

- the recent strong momentum in delivery under Housing for All will be sustained by a record €6 billion capital investment in housing in 2025; acknowledges that: - some 128,000 houses have been added to, or brought back into, the national housing stock between January 2020, and end-June 2024, including more than 116,000 new builds, 1,800 units in 'unfinished housing developments' built out, and 10,000 or so vacant properties brought back into use;

- some 33,000 homes commenced in 2023, with this momentum continuing into 2024, with some 37,600 homes commenced in the first eight months of the year, up 76 per cent on the same period last year, and greater than the total for the whole of 2023, by some 15 per cent;

- recent month-on-month declines in new home starts reversed in August, bringing to 58,000 the quantum commenced in the 12 months to end-August, with commencement activity expected to continue to pick up as the year draws to a close;

- household purchase activity, and first-time buyer activity in particular, remains robust, with purchases by first-time buyers remaining on par year-on-year to end-August 2024;

- new home purchases by first-time buyers are also resilient, with the volume of sales up 8 per cent in the 12 months since August 2023; and

- the number of mortgage drawdowns by first-time buyers is growing, with first-time buyer drawdowns reaching a new peak of almost 26,000 in 2023, the highest annual level since 2007, while rolling 12-month drawdowns remain above 25,500 at the end of Q2 2024; recognises that an increased delivery of affordable homes is at the heart of Housing for All, and welcomes that: - over 8,500 affordable housing supports have been delivered since the launch of Housing for All via Approved Housing Bodies (AHB), 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;

- in the first half of 2024, a total of 2,669 affordable housing options were delivered, more than double the 1,294 delivered in the first six months of last year;

- with a continued strong performance in the second half of the year anticipated, the Government is on track to meet this year's delivery target of 6,400 affordable housing supports;

- over 2,180 Cost Rental homes have already been delivered by AHBs, local authorities, LDA and through the Cost Rental Tenant in-Situ Scheme;

- funding is approved to support the delivery of more than 4,300 affordable homes (affordable purchase and cost rental) by 21 local authorities, with the support of over €380 million in grant assistance from the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF);

- over 5,500 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 10,000 Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant applications have been made, with over 6,700 already approved and over 860 grants issued to date; further notes that in relation to the Government's established Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme; - has already provided close to 1,000 local authority affordable purchase homes at upfront affordable prices across 15 local authorities;

- has a growing pipeline of over 2,000 further homes approved for funding support across 21 local authority areas;

- is focused on new-build homes to increase supply in those areas where affordable homes are needed most;

- is stimulating the development of additional new housing supply now and in the years to come, as revolving AHF subsidies will support future affordably constrained households to access affordable new housing;

- provides that purchasers can avail of the benefit of living in high quality, new homes whose price would otherwise be beyond their means and who choose to buy out the equity in that home as their resources improve over time;

- allows, like any other homeowner that has availed of a mortgage, the purchaser of an affordable home to own their property and to sell their affordable home on the open market at any point with the consent of the local authority;

- that such consent cannot be unreasonably withheld, and is in recognition of the equity contribution made by the local authority, and the asset that the owner has acquired;

- allows purchasers to retain any capital gained on their share of the home on sale;

- based on the returns received from local authorities for transactions completed in 2023, the average upfront affordable purchase price paid by buyers was €267,000 across the range of 2, 3 and 4-bed homes, available in a range of locations; and

- in the case of reaching the "Long Stop Date", it is not automatic, and there is no obligation on the local authority to redeem the equity share of an affordable dwelling and that this is at the discretion of the housing authority; furthermore, notes that: - Sinn Féin's Housing Plan "A Home of Your Own", confirms a phasing out of the Help-to-Buy Scheme, an immediate closure of the First-Home Scheme to new applicants and a promise to examine ending other subsidies which have supported affordable housing delivery to date under Housing for All; and

- Sinn Féin will introduce a stamp duty exemption for First Time Buyers, so that if you are buying your first home, you will pay no stamp duty on a property valued at €450,000 or less, which will be worth a maximum €4,500 for a purchaser, however, under current Government supports between Help-to-Buy and the First Home Scheme, first time buyers of new homes can avail of up to €100,000; and agrees that the continued implementation of Housing for All and the operation of the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme represents the most appropriate response to deal with the affordability challenges which Ireland is now facing.

I am very glad to have this opportunity to debate the motion in the House. I have a long list of questions for the Sinn Féin Party on its alternative programme of affordable leasehold purchase homes. It sounds convoluted because it is. It sets out vague but complicated terms. It is a leasehold arrangement whereby purchasers would not own the land the home is built on and would be restricted in who they could sell the home to. Since the alternative plan was announced, I have tried to ascertain further details from the Sinn Féin Party but to little or no avail. I am now growing increasingly concerned about the design of the scheme and the uncertainty it is creating. Most fundamentally, at the centre of this flawed scheme, is the fact the party opposite and its housing spokesperson cannot provide any assurances as to the role of the commercial lenders and, specifically, whether they will provide mortgages on this scheme.

Mary Lou McDonald corrected the Dáil record today regarding a very serious incorrect claim she had made. I will not conflate the two issues. They are both very serious issues but I want to give her the opportunity to also correct the record regarding comments she made on the "This Week" programme on Sunday, 29 September. This is crucially important, as she is the leader of the main Opposition party. She was questioned in detail about its alternative housing plan. During the course of that interview, Mary Lou McDonald was questioned on whether the party has confirmation that the commercial banks would lend under the Sinn Féin programme of affordable leasehold purchase homes. Her exact response was, "Yes, the banks will lend."

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