Written answers

Tuesday, 17 January 2017

Department of Finance

Housing Provision

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

345. To ask the Minister for Finance the success to date for the various incentives introduced to encourage house building and home ownership; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1967/17]

Photo of Michael NoonanMichael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

At the outset I want to stress that my colleague the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government has primary responsibility for the housing market. Having said that, developments in the housing market can have an impact on the wider economy so it is in all of our interests that equilibrium is restored to the market.

A key priority for this Government is to tackle the barriers impeding the development of a fully functioning housing market where supply responds to demand in a sustainable manner. In this regard, my Department and I have actively engaged with, and contributed to, the formulation of the Government's policy response as set out in the Action Plan for Housing, Rebuilding Ireland.

To complement the Action Plan, Budget 2017 contained a number of additional measures to support house building and homeownership including, for example, the introduction of the Help-to-Buy initiative, the amendments to the Living City Initiative and the extension of mortgage interest relief. The Help-to Buy initiative should help alleviate some of the specific challenges faced by first-time buyers in accessing the housing market, while improvements in the Living City Initiative aim to promote rental supply in the designated urban areas.

It is too early to assess the impact of these recently adopted measures on the housing market. My Department intends to commission an independent impact assessment of the Help-to-Buy initiative to determine its general impact. This report will be completed by September 2017, prior to Budget 2018.

On the development finance side, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and the wider National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) is examining the feasibility of a new funding vehicle, in conjunction with the private sector, that would be capable of funding the delivery of new mixed-tenure residential developments, and that is both off-balance sheet and commercially viable. Such a fund has the potential to provide in the order of 5,000 additional units over a five-year period for social housing. In addition, ISIF will support the delivery of housing-related enabling infrastructure in large scale priority development areas through the provision of upfront capital to developers with repayments made either as sites or completed housing units are sold.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.