Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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393. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of Rebuilding Ireland loans approved and drawn down in the past two years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46770/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department regularly publishes information on the number and value of (i) local authority loan approvals and (ii) local authority loan drawdowns. Local authority approval means that an official letter of offer has been sent to a borrower (and therefore relates to a specific property and loan amount).

Local Authority drawdowns to Q1 2021 is available at the following link, which will be updated as updated figures are available at:www.gov.ie/en/collection/42d2f-local-authority-loan-activity/#local-authority-loans-approvedpaid.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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394. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of families who have to date in 2021 applied for local authority or similar housing, affordable housing or special needs housing by county with a view to responding at the earliest possible date to this need; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46771/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Details on the number of households qualified for social housing support in each local authority area is provided in the annual statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA). The most recent summary, conducted in November 2020, shows that 61,880 households were assessed as qualified for and being in need of social housing support. This represents a decrease of 6,813 households or 9.9% on the last assessment in June 2019. Since 2016, the numbers have decreased from 91,600 to 61,880, a reduction of 32.4%. In relation to the question posed by the Deputy regarding the number of families that have in the year to date applied for local authority or special needs housing, information of this specific type is not held by my Department.

The summary report for 2020 includes information in a range of categories, including details on households with a specific accommodation requirement arising from a disability. A breakdown of the categories of disability is available in Figure 2.5 and Table A 1.5 of the report. The report is available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/970ea-summary-of-social-housing-assessments-2020-key-findings/.

It should be noted that the SSHA is a point in time snapshot of the demand for social housing support in each local authority area and does not necessarily reflect the dynamic nature of entry to and exit from the housing waiting lists.

The Housing for All Strategy delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to put affordability at the heart of the housing system. Central to the Plan is a major expansion in the role of the State in providing affordable and social homes. Overall we need to deliver an average of 33,000 new build homes each year out to 2030. This includes an average of 10,000 new social homes each year, 4,000 affordable purchase homes and 2,000 cost rental homes. Over 54,000 new affordable homes will be delivered by the end of 2030, including a projected 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes.

The provisions of the Affordable Housing Act 2021 were commenced in August of this year. The Act details provisions for the following measures: a new local authority led affordable purchase scheme; a new affordable purchase shared equity ‘First Home’ scheme for the sale of homes in private development; and establishing Cost Rental as a new form of tenure. To date, the first homes delivered under Cost Rental have been managed by Approved Housing Bodies and data is not retained centrally on applications. In terms of affordable purchase, it is intended that Regulations governing the application procedure for the local authority led scheme will be published by November.