Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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120. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of houses completed by Cork City Council and Cork County Council in the past five years; the expected number of houses to be completed in Cork city and county in the coming three years following the publication of the Housing for All plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46328/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Details on social housing delivery for each local authority, across a range of delivery mechanisms, are included in social housing statistics published by my Department. This data is available to the end of Quarter 2 2021 and is available on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/

A detailed Social Housing Construction Status Report is also published each quarter which provides scheme level detail on new build activity. The most recent publication covers the period up to the end of Quarter 2 2021 and is available on my Department's website at www.gov.ie/en/publication/d7709-social-housing-construction-projects-status-report-q2-2021/. This data includes information for each local authority and includes a list of the individual projects that make up the new build programme for that local authority.

Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 47,600 new build social homes in the period 2022-2026. Individual targets for the delivery of social housing have been provided to each local authority. The targets for Cork City and Cork County are set out in the table below.

The Housing for All Strategy delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to put affordability at the heart of the housing system. It is the largest State-led building programme in our history, backed up by an unprecedented financial commitment in excess of €4bn per annum. In terms of interventions that improve affordability, at a national level this includes 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. These homes will be provided by local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies, the Land Development Agency (LDA), as well as through a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.

Under Housing for All, each local authority is required to develop a Housing Delivery Action Plan by December 2021. These Plans will set out details on how and when local authorities will deliver their housing targets, including the delivery of affordable homes. The Housing Needs Demand Assessment Framework and associated tools and data repository are available to inform this work.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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121. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the steps he can take to reduce the number of applicants on local authority housing waiting lists in the next two years and at the same time make adequate provision for affordable housing demands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46411/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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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 social homes per annum from 2022-2030. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4b per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the Land Development Agency (LDA) and €5bn in funding through the Housing Finance Agency.

Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 18,100 new build social homes in 2022 and 2023, in addition to a further 2,500 social homes through long-term leasing during this same period. We will also provide additional funding to support households on social housing waiting lists to secure a tenancy, supported by the Housing Assistance Payment, while we increase the supply of housing stock managed by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies.

The Housing for All strategy contains a multi-pronged approach to improving affordability and increasing the supply of social homes. Some measures such as the Local Authority Affordable Homes scheme and the First Home scheme are focused on supporting first-time buyers purchasing newly built homes. Other measures such as Cost Rental will deliver approximately 18,000 homes over the period 2021 to 2030.

The strategy also provides for the 'Local Authority Home Loan', which will be in place later in 2021. This is a successor to the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan Scheme, and will include an increase in the income ceiling for single applicants, thus increasing the number of people eligible. The Help to Buy scheme also continues to help purchasers to access homes.

In addition to the above, the Housing for All strategy provides a range of measures to increase and accelerate the delivery of housing, such as increased funding provided to the Land Development Agency, the Croí Cónaithe initiative, measures to reduce vacancy rates, and expanded supports for retrofitting existing homes. In addition, the Government has introduced new, higher-rate stamp duty measures and planning permission restrictions to minimise the bulk buying of traditional family homes.

Collectively, these measures will increase the supply of affordable homes and improve affordability for all families or individuals wishing to purchase a home.