Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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107. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans and those of his Department to reserve units in housing developments for first-time buyers as set out in the Housing for All plan; the timeline for this provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46318/21]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Action 1.10 in Housing for All outlines that a form of ‘owner-occupier guarantee’ will be introduced to enable local authorities to specify the proportion of houses and duplexes in a development for owner-occupiers. This is intended to build on the existing higher-rate stamp duty measures and restrictions on planning permissions introduced in May 2021 by way of section 28 Guidelines on the Regulation of Commercial Institutional Investment in Housing.

The current guidelines ensure that new ‘own-door’ houses and duplex units in housing developments are not bulk-purchased by commercial institutional investors in a manner that causes the displacement of individual purchasers and/or social and affordable housing including cost-rental. The guidelines set out two alternative planning conditions to which planning authorities must have regard, in granting planning permission for new residential development that includes 5 or more houses and/or duplex units.

The conditions restrict such properties to first occupation and use by individual purchasers and those eligible for social/affordable housing including cost-rental. To achieve this, the applicant must enter into an agreement with the planning authority, which may be terminated in certain circumstances.

Action 1.10 seeks to allow local authorities, following on from the preparation of Housing Need and Demand Assessments, to specify a proportion of houses and duplexes in a development for individual purchasers. It is not proposed to restrict this measure to first time buyers, however it may assist such individual purchasers. It is proposed to bring proposals forward in Q4 2021 in this regard.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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108. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the reason local authorities are not permitted to purchase homes for tenants by social housing support recipients that are put up for sale but are permitted to enter into long-term lease arrangements for these same properties after the social housing support recipient has been evicted on grounds of a vacant possession notice to quit. [46407/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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In 2021, there is a provision for 800 social housing acquisitions by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies. This provision is targeted towards securing specific types of units, including properties for homeless households, one-bedroom properties, housing for individuals with a disability and for households with other priority needs. It is a matter for individual local authorities to allocate social housing homes in accordance with their Scheme of Letting Priorities.

The recently published Housing for All strategy is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade, including an average of 10,000 new build social homes. Under Housing for All, the focus is on increasing social housing through new build, with a reduced reliance on leasing and the acquisition of homes. Long-term leasing will be ended under Housing for All and there will be no new homes delivered through long-term leasing after 2025. There will also be a limited number of social homes delivered through acquisitions, with current projections limiting acquisitions to 200 new social homes per annum.