Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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23. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the amount drawn down under the local infrastructure housing activation fund per annum to date; the number of affordable homes built; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20090/18]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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We will wait for the spokesperson, Deputy Darragh O'Brien.

Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I will be taking questions on his behalf today because he is away.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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That is no problem.

Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Fine Gael scrapped the affordable housing scheme in 2012. The current Government and its predecessor have not delivered an affordable home since coming into power almost seven years ago. The current Government introduced a new affordable housing scheme in January 2018. An integral part of that scheme to deliver affordable homes is the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF. What has been the draw-down under that fund to date? What is the number of affordable homes built to date?

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the question.

The purpose of the local infrastructure housing activation fund is to relieve key infrastructural blockages for the delivery of housing at scale. I have approved 30 infrastructure projects under the fund at a cost of around €195 million, with an associated housing delivery of 20,000 units by 2021, and more will follow as the sites are fully built out.

The total LIHAF funds drawn down in 2017 amounted to €1.6 million. My Department is currently examining draw-down requests for the first quarter of this year.

The low level of draw-down reflects the stages that the infrastructure projects were at. Most were in the design, planning and tendering phases, where costs are lower than at construction stage. I therefore expect a major increase in draw-down as local authorities move projects to construction.

While there was under-expenditure in 2017, funding for LIHAF is ring-fenced within the overall multi-annual housing budget. The LIHAF under-expenditure in 2017 was diverted to other housing activities, ensuring that the funding available was fully applied to housing priorities. The under-expenditure will be made good as projects are advanced in 2018 and 2019.

LIHAF-associated housing will start coming on stream as we progress the infrastructure. Some sites will deliver housing in tandem with the infrastructure but other sites will require the infrastructure to be in place to allow proper access.

While I am anxious for the infrastructure and the housing to be delivered as fast as possible, I recognise that local authorities must observe proper design, planning and tendering procedures. My Department will continue to monitor progress on these sites and ensure that every effort is made to secure the timely delivery of the infrastructure and housing involved.

Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister. He did not answer the question on how many houses have been delivered to date so I assume the answer is nil.

I can understand the blockage in the system is because of the capital nature of the project. With regard to affordability, sums of over €300,000 are regarded as affordable in Dún Laoghaire. It is not really affordable to the average person. Can the Minister give us a breakdown of the different types of affordable housing he is proposing and their various price scales?

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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It is important that we do not mislead the public on LIHAF. The objective of LIHAF was to unblock key pieces of land for housing delivery. The majority of the projects, if not all, were approved only in quarters 3 and 4 of last year. The intention is for the infrastructure to be delivered between now and 2019 and for 20,000 houses to be delivered between now and 2021. At certain sites, however, the houses will be delivered in tandem with the infrastructure. We are already seeing progress on some key sites in Dublin where there will be housing delivery.

When we talk about what will be delivered under the 30 projects and about the target of 20,000 homes by 2021, we should note that 5,600 homes, or over 28%, will be social or affordable housing. That means 3,274 social homes and 2,350 affordable homes. Five thousand six hundred, or 28%, will have a LIHAF-related cost reduction, which was part of the scheme when it was originally set up. Eight thousand eight hundred homes, or 44%, will be sold at normal market rates. Therefore, 70% of the projects approved to date are likely to have housing available at €320,000 or less, subject to market inflation. Bearing in mind the number of first-time buyers and the homes that were bought last year, the figure of €320,000 is important. In the greater Dublin area, Cork and Galway, 69% of houses bought by first-time buyers in 2017 were priced lower than €320,000. Outside those areas, the figure was lower than €250,000. While LIHAF was not specifically an affordability measure in the first instance, it will deliver affordable homes. More important, it will deliver affordable purchase scheme homes. This scheme is the new affordability provision I announced at the beginning of this year.

Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister. Could he give us an update on LIHAF 2 and the projects that did not succeed under LIHAF 1? Will he state the affordable house prices he has proposed under all the schemes? It is very hard to understand the exact cost from the spreadsheet. As the Minister says, there is percentage discount and, equally, a fixed price in regard to affordability.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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On the Deputy's last question, it will depend on the scheme itself. In certain instances, based on the figures I gave the Deputy, there will be a cost reduction pertaining to homes across the site. A certain percentage will be taken off the proposed selling price or the proposed rental price.

With regard to the affordable purchase scheme, again it will depend on the cost of delivering a house and what kind of stake will be taken in terms of the equity scheme.

What we have announced already are the income eligibility requirements, which are €50,000 for an individual and €75,000 for a couple. That is important in terms of knowing who will be able to access these schemes.

When I sign development commencement orders under the legislation, local authorities will be able then to make regulations in each of their local authority areas as to access. We are about to put a call out for the serviced sites fund, which is €25 million for the affordable purchase scheme, which will follow on from the Ó Cualann model. That is the model from which it comes in terms of having local authorities work with housing bodies to deliver affordable purchase scheme homes.

Money was assigned in the budget for me to proceed with the second phase of the local infrastructure activation fund, LIHAF 2. Projects that were not successful in the first phase of it can apply in the second phase of it if and when that is announced, but if we are proceeding with a second phase of LIHAF, I want to make that it can achieve what we want it to achieve, which is the unlocking of sites of strategic importance in local authorities up and down the country and doing that quickly. If there is any concern that we might not be able to do that at speed, that might be something we would look at again, but at present I am still reviewing plans for LIHAF 2.