John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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243. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the progress being made in developing a cost rental model for the housing rental sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25781/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Under the Strategy for the Rental Sector, a range of measures to improve the supply of rental accommodation that meets the needs of ordinary households are being progressed including:

- build to rent models;

- use of State-owned lands to deliver affordable rental in areas of high demand;

- measures to increase the supply of dedicated student accommodation to free-up units in the general rental market;

- supports to bring vacant stock into use;

- consideration of tax and fiscal incentives to encourage additional supply.

In addition to these measures, the Strategy for the Rental Sector noted that the Programme for a Partnership Government contains a commitment to develop a "cost rental" option, taking account of work already completed in this area, including by NESC and others.

In line with this commitment, Action 12 of the Strategy for the Rental Sector provides that my Department will lead an expert group to develop a cost rental model for the Irish rental sector, addressing issues such as funding mechanisms, the need to grow the necessary institutional capacity, particularly within the AHB and not for profit sector (whether through mergers, new entrants or strategic partnerships), the households to be targeted and the appropriate regulation mechanisms. The expert group will assess the benefits that a larger and more developed not-for-profit segment would bring to the rental sector and the housing system, and examine the feasibility and effectiveness of different approaches to achieve the desired change. A proposal to establish the Expert Group - including membership and terms of reference - is currently under consideration in my Department.