Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Kyne for his Commencement matter, which is key and very important in terms of raising the priority of affordable housing within the Department and in the context of Galway city and County Galway. The Housing for All strategy sets out a very strong target of 54,000 affordable home interventions between now and 2030. As the Senator quite rightly pointed out, Galway has to take its share of this projection.

Delivery of affordable housing, in accordance with the scheme set out in the Affordable Housing Act 2021 and the funding being made available, will be underpinned by the local authorities' housing delivery action plans, including those of Galway City Council and Galway County Council, which were submitted to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien in December 2021. Preparation of the plans allowed each local authority to assess the level of demand with affordability constraint in its area, based on the housing need and demand assessment, and plan provision accordingly.The plans are currently being revised and updated by local authorities in light of ongoing engagement and clarifications, and I expect that they will be ready for publication by local authorities before the end of the summer. They will also provide a comprehensive overview of projected delivery of affordable housing in Galway, how many units are needed and where they are needed. I had the opportunity to raise this matter with Galway County Council last week when we visited its offices in Prospect Hill with Senator Kyne. I understand there is a significant pipeline of works currently under way. I point to the urgency for affordable housing to be a key component in that context because, as the Senator said, a healthy society must be reflected by a diversity of housing, with affordable housing being a key element along with private housing.

Funding is made available to assist local authorities and approved housing bodies to deliver affordable housing for purchase and rent through the affordable housing fund, AHF, previously known as the serviced sites fund, and the cost rental equity loan. The serviced sites fund is supporting affordable housing development at Merlin Woods in Galway city which, according to Galway City Council, will deliver approximately 85 affordable homes to purchase by 2024. My departmental officials recently met with Galway County Council's director of housing and council colleagues to discuss the progress of plans for a number of affordable purchase schemes in Galway county. I understand that Galway County Council intends to make applications to my Department for AHF funding to support these schemes in the coming months. The schemes are currently at various planning stages and, all going well, it is hoped affordable homes could be available for purchase from 2023.

The first home scheme will be delivered via a strategic partnership between the State and participating mortgage lenders. I can confirm that all parties are working with a view to deploying the scheme by the end of the second quarter of this year. It will improve access to newly-built homes, below the median price point, by using a shared equity model to bridge the gap between mortgage finance and the cost of new homes. This measure, targeted at first-time or fresh-start buyers, will allow purchasers to exit the rental market, help to build developer confidence in realisable consumer demand and contribute to the recovery of our construction sector.

Furthermore, the Land Development Agency is progressing two major projects in Galway city as part of its initial tranche of State lands. These include site locations on Dyke Road and Sandy Road, Galway. Overall projected delivery from these sites is for over 1,500 homes, with the first 170 to be achieved by 2026 on Dyke Road. To date, a preliminary design has been completed for the site and engagement with Galway City Council is ongoing. With regard to the development located at Sandy Road, a design team has been commissioned to prepare a framework for the Sandy Road regeneration. Stakeholder engagement is under way and a public consultation will be undertaken.

Other measures to allow buyers to access newly-constructed housing affordably, such as the help-to-buy scheme and the local authority home loan, formerly the Rebuilding Ireland home loan, are also available to eligible purchasers nationally to make home ownership more affordable.