Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I very much believe in Part V delivery. I wish to deal with a particular aspect of it. I like estates to have 10% social and 10% affordable. That is what I want to see on every new estate that is built. Part V provision was in place previously, with both 10% social and 10% affordable, but on many occasions the Part V obligation was bought out and did not happen. That is no longer the case.

However, I draw attention to the fact that under Housing for All and, more particularly, the Affordable Housing Act 2021, in the case of planning permissions granted before 3 September 2021, it is only the 10% social that applies. The 10% affordable does not apply for private estates in that context. For planning permissions granted after 31 July 2026, which is the bones of four and a half years away, the 10% social and 10% affordable - a total of 20% - will apply. For planning permissions granted between 3 September 2021 and 31 July 2026 in respect of land purchased prior to 1 September 2015, the 10% social and 10% affordable apply. However, for any land purchased between 1 September 2015 up to 31 July 2021, which makes up the bulk of the land that will be built on now, only the 10% social applies. Why is that the case? In the case of land purchased after 1 September 2021, the 20% total does apply, but the bulk of the land that will be built on in the coming years will be land that was probably purchased between 1 September 2015 and 31 July 2021. That means that many of the private estates that will be built will not provide 10% affordable housing.

I passionately believe in the Part V model. Why has this situation come about? What can be done about it? I ask the Government to reconsider this and amend it. Whatever the cost that will have to be paid to the builders of these estates to ensure 10% of the houses are made available under the affordable model should be met. I am talking about ensuring that, on an estate of 100 houses, ten of those houses would be set aside for affordable purchase. That is what the people in Limerick whom I represent are seeking. My worry is that will not be the case under the structure currently in place. That may be based on legal reasons, but I want to know the reason for the decision and I want the Government to consider ensuring the 10% social and 10% affordable provisions apply to any planning permissions that are granted from now on, regardless of when the land was purchased. If that requires additional funding from the Government to the developers of these sites, so be it. I believe it would offer value for money because it provides people with affordable homes on private estates in their own communities.

I believe in the model of estates that have 10% social, 10% affordable and 80% private. It is a mix and it works. There are other models and I very much acknowledge the fact there are 25 new houses going up under the affordable fund at the moment in Castletroy, where I live. That is to be welcomed, but this is a slightly different thing. Anyone who has been involved on the ground will understand what I am talking about.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Brien.

Under Housing for All, the Government's strategy to increase housing supply, we have an ambitious target to deliver 300,000 new homes in the next decade. This includes social, affordable purchase, cost rental, private rental, and private ownership housing. It has seen the Government make funding available for 54,000 affordable home interventions, including 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost rental homes, to be delivered between now and 2030.

Part of this affordable housing delivery will be facilitated under the provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000 Part V requirement. These provisions were amended via the Affordable Housing Act 2021 and came into operation on 3 September 2021. I know that is the matter to which the Deputy is referring. The amendments increase the required Part V contribution from the current level of "up to 10%" to a flat 20% in housing developments. This applies in situations involving five or more houses and enables the use of Part V for the provision of cost rental as well as social and affordable purchase housing. A minimum threshold is in place and requires at least half of the Part V contribution to be for social housing provision. Planning permissions granted before 1 August 2021 are not affected, as the Deputy noted. The contribution remains at 10% for social housing purposes where planning permission is granted before August 2026 in respect of a site purchased between September 2015 and the end of July 2021, when the requirement was at 10%. This transitional arrangement ensures that near-term delivery will continue, mindful that increasing the percentage could make developments unviable where the original financial appraisal was based on the 10% contribution.

I can confirm that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is currently preparing updated Part V guidelines for local authorities under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. These guidelines, which are expected to be finalised shortly, will provide detailed information and clarification on the amended Part V requirements, including those aspects relating to affordable housing.

In the interim and in the period to 2026, the Government has committed the funding to deliver cost rental and affordable purchase homes via approved housing bodies, AHBs, local authorities, the Land Development Agency, LDA, and the first home shared equity scheme. Cost rental homes will be delivered by AHBs, local authorities and the LDA. AHBs are currently supported by the cost rental equity loan funding, while local authorities can access funding for cost rental delivery through the Department's affordable housing fund.

The LDA will also deliver cost rental on its own portfolio of sites and through acquisitions under Project Tosaigh.

The target under Project Tosaigh is the delivery of 5,000 new homes by 2026 for cost rental or sale to eligible households under affordable purchase agreements. In regard to affordable purchase, the first home scheme was launched on 7 July last and aims to support in the region of 8,000 primarily first-time buyer households in acquiring new homes in the private market in the years 2022 to 2026 with an overall budget of €400 million. The remaining affordable homes for purchase will be delivered by a combination of local authorities underpinned by the housing delivery action plans and supported by the affordable housing fund and the Land Development Agency, LDA, through Project Tosaigh as it continues work on public and State land.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. I welcome the fact that there is a great deal happening on affordable housing. As I said, the 25 units in Castletroy that are being built under the affordable housing fund through the local authority and all the other aspects such as the home equity scheme are all very welcome. However this is a very particular point. The Minister of State made reference to the fact that land purchased between 1 September 2015 and 31 July 2021 might be deemed - if Part V for affordable housing was implemented and for planning permissions granted on or after 3 September 2021 - unviable. We are talking about 10% of an estate. It is very simple. This is down to funding. If it is down to funding, then the Government should be funding the developers for any shortfall they have in terms of a development. If we are looking for a model, it must be an integrated model. We cannot have a situation where over the next number of years no private estate built will have affordable housing. This is common sense. I ask that it is taken back to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and that Government will look again at the legal implications of this measure to see if that shortfall, where a builder bought land between 3 September 2015 and 31 July 2021, can be funded, so that the Government funds that 10% for the affordable housing. There are people, young couples and young people, who want to purchase a home in their own communities. They need to be entitled to avail of this and, therefore, I ask Government to revisit this aspect.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I will take on board what Deputy O’Donnell said and feed it back to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. What the Minister said, as Deputy O’Donnell said, the transitional arrangement ensures that near-term delivery will continue, mindful that increasing the percentage could make developments unviable where the original financial appraisal had been based on the original 10% contribution which was prior to this new Bill. As sites that fall under the new Part V provisions begin to obtain planning permissions, a supplementary delivery of social and affordable homes will be yielded. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will continue to concentrate on delivering a strong short- and medium-term pipeline of affordable delivery through continued engagement with the local authorities, approved housing bodies, AHBs, and the Land Development Agency. The transitional arrangements included in the amended Part V provisions ensure that the near-term delivery will continue uninterrupted and the Government remains committed to delivering affordable interventions, which I know Deputy O’Donnell welcomes and is supportive of. He mentioned the build in Castletroy. I will take on board what he said and will bring it to the attention of the Minister and his Department.