Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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188. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce rent to buy schemes or other affordable house purchase schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18140/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I recognise the difficulty faced by households in accessing the housing market. The Programme for a Partnership Governmentcontains a commitment for the introduction of a new model of affordable rental to provide more housing options for low income households and to relieve pressure on the social housing sector. €10 million is being made available from the proceeds of the sale of Bord Gáis Éireann to fund a pilot scheme in 2016. The details of the Scheme are currently being finalised in my Department for roll-out in the coming months. The Scheme will involve an ongoing annual commitment to secure a long term increase in the supply of affordable properties to meet the needs of those households that would struggle to make rental payments under present market conditions. The pilot Scheme is expected to work on the basis of tenants paying the majority of the rental cost from their own resources, with the State helping to meet the shortfall. It is intended that the scheme would be made available to employed households on low to moderate incomes, as well as being a possible support option for some households who qualify for social housing support. A State policy intervention - such as a subsidy - would be applied to bridge the gap between what people can afford, and what the housing market charges. Such a scheme would also be expected to facilitate and incentivise private investment into this sector.

The inadequate level of housing supply is at the heart of the difficulties in the housing sector and, in that regard, measures have already been taken to boost new housing construction and enhance supply at more affordable prices. The “Stabilising Rents – Boosting Supply” package announced by Government in November 2015 included:

- A targeted rebate of development contributions in Dublin and Cork for housing supplied under certain price levels to enhanced supply of more affordable starter homes in key locations;

- New National Apartment Planning Guidelines to reduce the cost of apartment building in Dublin City,

- Changes to aspects of the operation of Strategic Development Zones to enable swifter adjustments to meet market requirements; and,

- The Government’s Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) to examine funding for housing infrastructure on a case-by-case basis.

The package also included a number of measures to support rent stability in the rented

sector, pending additional housing supply coming on stream in the coming years.

Further actions aimed at increasing the supply of housing at more affordable prices are being examined in the context of drafting the Government’s new ‘Action Plan for Housing,’ which is to be published in the coming weeks.