Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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274. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of local authority housing starts proposed by each county with particular reference to County Kildare and adjoining counties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12286/22]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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275. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of housing starts to facilitate those seeking affordable houses that are expected in each county throughout 2022; the extent to which housing plans can be accelerated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12287/22]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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276. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of affordable housing starts proposed in 2022 in each county based on present proposals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12288/22]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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279. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of affordable housing to be created in each county throughout the country based on success to date with particular reference to those counties currently facing an acute housing problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12291/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 174, 275, 276 and 279 together.

The Affordable Housing Act 2021, the first ever standalone affordable housing legislation, established a basis for four 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 (1) delivering affordable homes on local authority lands, (2) the introduction of a new form of tenure in Cost Rental, (3) a First Home shared equity scheme and (4) 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.

This Act, supported by the unprecedented levels of funding committed to in the Housing for All strategy, averaging over €4 billion annually, will underpin the delivery of affordable housing targets. Specifically, 54,000 affordable homes for purchase or rent will be delivered between now and 2030 by local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies, the Land Development Agency and through the First Home Scheme, a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.

A Housing Delivery Action Plan was submitted by each local authority in December, currently being prepared by each Local Authority, will underpin delivery targets to 2026. Local authorities submitted the first iteration of their plans in December and my officials have now met with each authority. I expect that the final Delivery Action Plans will be published in Q2 and these will contain projected delivery over the years 2022 to 2026.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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277. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the degree to which he has plans to meet the housing requirements of those currently on local authority housing waiting lists with particular reference to County Kildare and adjoining counties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12289/22]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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280. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of applicants on the local authority lists of counties throughout Leinster that are currently facing a serious housing shortage at present; the extent to which he plans to deal with those on the lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12292/22]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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285. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when he expects to be in a position to dramatically shorten the waiting times for local authority built houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12297/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 277, 280 and 285 together.

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. This includes the delivery of 47,600 new build social homes in the period 2022-2026. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the Land Development Agency (LDA) and €5bn funding through the Housing Finance Agency.

In September 2021, I issued social housing targets for build and long-term lease to all local authorities for 2022-2026. The targets for Kildare are set out in table below.

Details on the number of households qualified for social housing support in each local authority administrative area is provided in the annual statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA). The SSHA captures the total number of households qualified for social housing support across the country whose social housing need has not yet been met and helps better inform policy and plan for the delivery of the right types of social housing support. The most recently published summary, conducted in November 2020, shows 61,880 households assessed as qualified for and needing social housing support. This is a decrease of 6,813 households, or 9.9%, on the assessment in June 2019. The 2020 summary is available at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/970ea-summary-of-social-housing-assessments-2020-key-findings/#:~:text=The%20Summary%20of%20Social%20Housing,is%20not%20currently%20being%20met.

The 2021 SSHA process is underway and I expect to publish the summary report later this month.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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278. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the extent to which it is expected to speed up the process of local authority housing loans having particular regard to the housing crisis faced by those on local authority waiting lists or currently renting high-rent properties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12290/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The introduction of the Local Authority Home Loan was announced as part of Housing For All. This is the successor to the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loans Scheme. It has been available nationwide from local authorities since 4 January 2022 for for people on modest or low incomes who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. The loan can be used both for new and second-hand properties, or to self-build. It is available for first-time buyers and fresh start applicants. The Local Authority Home Loan can also be used for the purchase of homes through State schemes such as the Tenant Purchase Scheme and Affordable Housing Schemes, with the exception of the First Home Scheme.

The Scheme supports home ownership amongst lower to moderate income households by reducing the cost of mortgage finance and increasing the level of financing available, particularly for single applicants in urban areas.

Further details can be found on the following websites localauthorityhomeloan.ie/ and .

My Department does not collect data on the average time taken by local authorities to process Local Authority Home Loans.

In order to support local authorities, the Housing Agency has been tasked to provide a central support service which assesses applications for local authority loans on behalf of local authorities and makes recommendations to the authorities to approve or refuse applications. The Agency has confirmed the average turnaround time for applications to be assessed (from date received to date returned with recommendation) in October 2021 was 5 working days. However, some applications may take longer to assess due to the need to verify aspects of the application etc.

The application and associated recommendation is then forwarded to the relevant local authority to process. Each local authority must have in place a Credit Committee and it is a matter for the Committee to make the final decision on applications for loans, in accordance with the regulations, and having regard to the recommendations made by the Housing Agency.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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281. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of housing units proposed in each county throughout 2022 with particular reference to those counties experiencing population growth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12293/22]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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286. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the extent to which he and his Department can exceed the proposed number of new, local authority and affordable houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12298/22]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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287. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when he expects to be in a position to identify a specific date within which it is intended to meet housing needs with particular reference to those on local authority waiting lists, those trying to raise a deposit and those affected by the low threshold for qualification for local authority loans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12299/22]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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288. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the extent to which he has considered additional measures to address the housing crisis with particular reference to the rapidly escalating house prices, the increasing number of persons seeking to purchase an affordable house and the number of applicants on local authority housing waiting lists; his plans to introduce radical measures to address the situation which is for many persons an emergency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12300/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 281, 286, 287 and 288 together.

Housing for All, the Government's housing plan for Ireland is a radical one that sets out four pathways to a sustainable housing system. Affordability and the chance to own a home are at the heart of this Government’s housing policy. It recognises that significant new supports are needed so that those who want to own their own home can do so, and that those who wish to rent are able to do so at an affordable rate.

While many housing issues are complex to tackle, a simple lack of supply to meet demand is a significant part of the problem. Housing for All addresses this and aims to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 homes per year over the next decade. Over 300,000 new homes will be built by the end of 2030, including a projected 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes, and 18,000 cost rental homes. 

To help support this ambitious delivery, Housing for All is backed by historic levels of investment with in excess of €20bn through the Exchequer, the Land Development Agency (LDA) and the Housing Finance Agency over the next 5 years. This will provide the sector with the certainty and stability it needs. 

There is a targeted approach right across the country to supply housing where it is needed most. A key action of Housing for All is that local authorities will develop and submit Housing Delivery Action Plans to include details of social and affordable housing delivery. The Plans set out details of both social and affordable housing delivery as appropriate over the period 2022 - 2026, in line with targets set under Housing for All. 

All local authorities submitted their Housing Delivery Action Plans to me in December. My Department is now working closely with each local authority and the Housing Delivery Coordination Office to review the Plans, having regard to the targets and policy objectives set out in Housing for All. This will require further engagement with local authorities in the coming weeks. It is intended to publish the Plans in Quarter 2 of 2022 when this process of assessment and engagement has concluded.

There are a number of encouraging indications of increased construction activity at this early stage. We are seeing a strong supply pipeline, with Commencement Notices data showing a total number of 30,724 residential dwellings commenced in 2021. This is a 42% increase when compared to the number of residential dwellings commenced in 2020 (21,686). The 2021 total is almost equal to the combined totals for 2016 and 2017 (30,816).

New figures shows that in the past twelve months (February 2021 to January 2022), Commencement Notices for 31,201 new homes were received. This is the highest rolling 12-month total since comparable data was first published. The breakdown, by local authority area, is available in the Statistics Dashboard of the Housing for All campaign page at following weblink:www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/dfc50-housing-for-all/#.

With regard to the number of homes built, there were 20,433 new dwellings completed in 2021. Completions for 2022 and 2023 are projected to exceed the Housing for All targets of 24,600 and 29,000 respectively. The Central Bank forecasts that some 27,000 and 31,000 homes will be completed in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

Increasing the supply of housing as set out in Housing for All is the top priority for me and the Government and we have made a good start on our path towards this goal. However, I acknowledge that we are coming from a low base of supply and that it will take some time before the full benefits of the plan are tangible to our citizens. There are however a number of key schemes and initiatives that will support the delivery of affordable homes at scale:

The Local Authority Affordable Homes scheme and the First Home scheme are primarily focused on supporting first-time buyers purchasing newly built homes. Both of these schemes will be targeted at households constrained by the maximum mortgage and deposit available to them. The gap between the market value and what the household can afford (including with the assistance of the ‘Help to Buy’ incentive) will be bridged via the provision of equity support. The equity support can subsequently be redeemed at any time at the home-owners discretion, or remain outstanding until the home is sold or passed on.

Changes have also be made to the current Local Authority Home Loan Scheme which enable first-time buyers, on middle incomes, to access sustainable mortgages to purchase new or second-hand properties, or to self-build. The product has been changed by lowering the interest rate for new borrowers by 0.25% and raising the maximum income ceiling for single persons to €65,000 in counties Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow. 

New Cost Rental homes are now becoming available as we speak. Under Cost Rental, homes will be provided at rents that are set to cover only the cost of financing, building, managing and maintaining the homes. Over the period to 2026, it is intended that approximately 10,000 Cost Rental homes will be delivered in our urban centres that will provide affordable rental homes in the order of 25% below market rents.

The LDA also has a key role to play, including through “Project Tosaigh” aimed at accelerating the delivery of up to 5,000 homes. The first delivery stream of this LDA initiative to bring privately developed units to market affordably and quickly was launched on 12 November 2021. The LDA issued a call for Expressions of Interest for advance purchase agreements to developers, with a target scheme scale in excess of 150 units per development, in the Greater Dublin Area, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. The Expressions of Interest submitted are currently being assessed by the LDA with their priority focus and engagement being on schemes with potential delivery in 2022 and 2023. These homes will be targeted at those middle-income households that do not qualify for social housing, but struggle to afford open market housing, i.e. household incomes of broadly €45,000 to €80,000 per annum.

The Affordable Housing Fund has replaced the Serviced Sites Fund. The Fund has been open for applications from 1 September 2021. My Department is actively engaging with the Local Authorities to support and encourage them to develop and submit proposals. The homes that Local Authorities deliver under the Affordable Housing Fund will be sold at least 15% below open market value in respect of Affordable Purchase homes and in the order of 25% below open market value prices in respect of Cost Rental homes.

The housing challenge remains immense, and continues to be affected by ongoing challenges including COVID-19 related delays, supply chain difficulties and inflationary pressure. The cost of housing – for those buying or renting will continue to be a challenge in the short-term. Narrowing the gap between supply and demand through the implementation of Housing for All will ultimately result in a moderation of prices and provide greater certainty to buyers and the sector alike.

Finally, in terms of tracking progress on Housing for All the Government has committed to publishing a report each quarter throughout the lifetime of the plan.

The first of these progress reports, for Q3 2021, was published on 20 October 2021 and can be accessed at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/44df1-housing-for-all-q3-2021-progress-report/.

The second progress report, for Q4 2021, was published on 26 January 2022 and can be accessed at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/84e61-housing-for-all-q4-2021-progress-report/.