Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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90. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the extent to which each local authority has achieved progress in relation to the provision of affordable first-time buyers local authority housing in sufficient numbers to accelerate the provision of such housing in order to meet the twin growing demands of the existing population and anticipated refugee requirement; if he will consider a declaration of a housing emergency to address these growing issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22129/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Delivery of affordable housing, in accordance with the schemes set out in the Affordable Housing Act, 2021 and the funding being made available, will be underpinned by local authorities' Housing Delivery Action Plans. Local authorities submitted their Plans to me in December 2021.  Preparation of the Plans allowed each local authority to assess the level of demand with affordability constraint in their area based on the Housing Need and Demand Assessment and plan provision accordingly.  The Plans are currently being revised and updated by local authorities in the light of ongoing engagement and clarifications, and I expect that they will be ready for publication by local authorities in the Summer. They will provide a comprehensive overview of projected delivery of affordable housing nationally.

National affordable housing delivery targets were published in Housing for All for 2022 – 2030. Overall targets to 2030 include 54,000 affordable housing units, 36,000 of which will be affordable purchase homes with the remaining 18,000 as cost rental units.  From 2022 to 2026, it is anticipated that over 28,000 affordable homes will be delivered.

Affordable housing delivery targets have been allocated to local authority areas where prices are highest and it has been identified that the need for affordable housing is a sufficiently significant proportion of overall housing need.  The five year target, from 2022 to 2026 for local authority affordable delivery is 7,550 (this projected figure excludes those affordable dwellings expected to be delivered under the terms of Part V agreements).  Local authorities are progressing delivering affordable housing in 2022 and on planning and building a pipeline of affordable housing projects into the future.

In addition to this local authority delivery, affordable purchase and cost rental homes will also be made available by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) and the Land Development Agency (LDA) in these local authority areas as part of the overall affordable housing delivery commitment under Housing For All.  Targets for affordable delivery by AHBs and the LDA were set nationally in consultation with AHB sector representatives and the LDA, having regard to projected delivery capacity.

The First Home Scheme will be delivered via a strategic partnership between the State and participating mortgage lenders and I can confirm that all parties are working with a view to deploying the scheme by the end of June this year.  It will improve access to newly-built homes, below the median price point, by using a shared equity model to bridge the gap between mortgage finance and the cost of new homes.  This measure, targeted at first time or fresh start buyers, will allow purchasers to exit the rental market, help to build developer confidence in realisable consumer demand, and contribute to the recovery of our construction sector following the Covid-19 emergency.   This Scheme will be available nationwide.

Other measures to allow buyers to affordably access newly-constructed housing such as the Help to Buy Scheme and the Local Authority Home Loan (formerly the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan), are also available to eligible purchasers nationally to make home ownership more affordable.  Information on these schemes is available at the following links:

www.revenue.ie/en/property/help-to-buy-incentive/index.aspx, and

localauthorityhomeloan.ie/