Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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733. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the allocation for the serviced site fund in 2018; the targeted number of affordable units in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31943/18]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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734. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the average site subsidy for the serviced site fund in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31944/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 733 and 734 together.

I refer to my reply to Question No. 945 of 10 July 2018 which broadly sets out the position in relation to the Serviced Sites Fund (SSF).

In addition, given that the State investment under the SSF needs to assist as many households as possible to access an affordable home, funding will be capped at €30,000 Exchequer contribution per affordable home to be delivered. When combined with the local authority contribution of at least 25% of the cost of the infrastructure bid, this will bring the per-unit grant to €40,000 minimum.

A total of €15 million Exchequer funding has been allocated for 2018, to which the local authority minimum contribution of €5 million will be added. This should enable the provision of  infrastructure for around 500 affordable homes through this €20m fund, based on a level of €40,000 per unit.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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735. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the average site subsidy under the 1999 affordable housing scheme from 1999-2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31945/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The 1999 Affordable Housing Scheme provided for the building of new houses on land owned or purchased by local authorities and the purchase of turnkey developments by local authorities for sale. These house were subsided through a site subsidy and were provided at less than market value.

In instances where the local authority was building on their own sites or purchased land, they were able to apply to my Department for a site subsidy. The site subsidy payable for Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway and certain district electoral divisions in the Kildare, Meath and Wicklow areas was up to €50,000. The site subsidy for areas other than those set out above was up to €31,800.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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736. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the units to be provided under the affordable housing scheme from 2018 to 2023 per annum in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31946/18]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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755. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the target date for the commencement of an affordable housing scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32365/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 736 and 755 together.

As Minister, I have been clear that we need to address issues of housing affordability, recognising the pressures that exist for low- to middle-income households, particularly in Dublin and certain other of our main urban centres. The delivery of targeted affordable housing, for purchase and rent, was a priority topic at the recent Summit with local authority Chief Executives. It also featured prominently at a post-Housing Summit meeting with local authority Housing Directors of Service this week.

A three-pronged, targeted approach to affordable housing is being pursued. Firstly, in terms of affordable housing for purchase, I have now commenced the relevant provisions of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, to place the new scheme for affordable purchase on a statutory footing.  This Scheme will be delivered by local authorities developing their sites in key locations. The Scheme will be complementary to other Government Schemes which help first-time buyers to buy a home, such as the Help to Buy Scheme and the new local authority home loan scheme.  

Secondly, I am also determined that cost rental homes become a major part of our rental landscape in the future. There is a gap between social housing and the rental market that needs to be filled, making a sustainable impact on housing affordability, national competitiveness, and the attractiveness of our main urban centres as places to live and work. Cost rental is an important component of progressive housing systems around Europe.

The Housing Agency, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and a number of Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) have been working with my Department to get our first cost rental pilot, at Enniskerry Road, ready for tenders to issue shortly. In parallel, Dublin City Council, my Department and the National Development Finance Agency are undertaking detailed modelling and financial appraisal on a major site, at St. Michael’s Estate in Inchicore, to assess its suitability for a significant cost rental development. The work of that multi-disciplinary team is progressing well and should be concluded very shortly.  Once we have proven the concept through our pilot projects, I plan to roll out cost rental across other suitable sites.

Finally, in order to support local authorities to get their sites ready for affordable housing, I am providing additional funding for enabling infrastructure via the Serviced Sites Fund.  Given that housing-related infrastructure will now be able to avail of funding under the €2 billion Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, I am re-directing the €50 million planned funding for Phase 2 of the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund to the Serviced Sites Fund, increasing the scale of the fund from the previously announced €25 million to €75 million.  When local authority co-funding is included, an overall minimum investment of €100 million will be provided to those sites that require infrastructural investment in order for them to be brought into use for affordable housing.  The call for proposals under the Serviced Site Fund issued last month.

Based on initial estimates, the local authorities in Dublin, the Greater Dublin Area, Cork and Galway, have lands with the potential to deliver some 4,000 new affordable homes.  My Department is continuing to work with the key local authorities and the Housing Agency to identify sites for at least 10,000 new affordable homes, and that analysis is progressing well.