Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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315. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the expected date for the launch of the affordable purchase shared equity scheme; when further details of the scheme will be announced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61714/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The provisions of the Affordable Housing Act 2021 establish the basis for 4 new affordable housing measures. These measures will deliver on the Programme for Government commitment to put affordability at the heart of the housing system and prioritise the increased supply of affordable homes through:

- delivering affordable homes for purchase on local authority lands;

- the introduction of a new form of tenure in Cost Rental;

- a new affordable purchase ‘First Home’ shared equity scheme; and

- expanding Part V planning requirements to increase the 10% contribution requirement to 20% and to apply it to cost rental as well as social and affordable housing.

First Home is one of the measures in Housing for All that will help deliver 54,000 new affordable homes up to 2030, 36,000 of which will be for affordable purchase, and 18,000 of which will be for cost rental.

First Home will support hard pressed first-time buyers to purchase new homes in private developments, will also help address viability concerns, and stimulate an increase in supply to meet increased demand.

The support available under First Home will help bridge the gap for eligible purchasers between the deposit and mortgage available to them, and the sale price of the home they wish to buy. The scheme will allow people paying high rents to instead use their income to pay down a mortgage and own their own home.

Under the scheme, new homes made available nationally to first-time buyers will be subject to regional price ceilings linked to the median price of new build homes. It is anticipated that the scheme will support in the region of 8,000 households over the years 2022 to 2026.

Work on the detailed design and operation of the scheme is ongoing. The full scheme details will be confirmed on completion of this work. A new entity which will operate First Home is currently being established, and it is intended that further stakeholder and public engagement will be undertaken in preparation for deployment of the scheme in Q2 2022.