John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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481. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the steps he is taking to maximise the use of State-owned lands to deliver affordable rental properties in areas of high demand as part of his rental sector strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33464/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Government recognises the housing affordability pressures faced by households, particularly in certain parts of the country. It is for this reason that the overarching objective of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness is to increase the supply of new homes to 25,000 units per annum. In particular, the aim is to increase the supply of high quality social and affordable homes, to buy or rent, as quickly as possible, in areas where demand is greatest.  

As set out in the Strategy for the Rental Sector, published in December 2016, the commitment to develop an affordable rental model, originally contained in Rebuilding Ireland, is now being progressed by local authorities in Rent Pressure Zones, through leveraging the value of their land to deliver a more affordable rental offering.

In this regard, Dublin City Council and the Housing Agency, in partnership with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, have developed detailed proposals for specific sites they control in Dublin. My Department is currently working through those proposals with the project sponsors.

On 27 April, details of some 1,700 hectares of land in local authority and Housing Agency ownership were published on the Rebuilding Ireland Land Map, with the potential to deliver some 42,500 homes nationally. All local authorities have now been requested to prepare Strategic Development and Management Plans for their lands by end September 2017.  

The final model to develop each site, including an affordable rental element where appropriate, will be informed by the outcome of the consideration of the initial pathfinder sites in Dublin City and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown. In parallel, as part of the targeted review of Rebuilding Ireland initiated recently, my Department is examining the broader issue of housing affordability.  Again, the outcome of the consideration of the specific proposals on the pathfinder sites will be factored into that review process.