Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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308. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the details of all persons and organisations consulted by his Department in determining the viability challenge and other details of the Croí Cónaithe cities scheme; if he will commit to publish the data underpinning the viability challenge and the data underpinning the subsidy level of up to €120,000 in Dublin and potentially 20% higher elsewhere. [24579/22]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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313. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of extant planning permissions for apartments in all of the cities eligible for the Croí Cónaithe Cities programme with a breakdown by those permissions using the build to rent design standards and those using the build to buy standards by number of apartment schemes; and the number of units in each scheme in tabular form. [24620/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 308 and 313 together.

Addressing the current housing shortage requires short, medium and long-term action to stimulate housing supply. The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme, introduced in Housing for All, will help to activate construction-ready apartment supply in our cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.

The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme is focused on delivering additional apartment supply in our cities for those who wish to own rather than rent. Proposals must be in full compliance with the relevant planning permission, the Building Control Act, and any other legislative requirements.

The information sought by the Deputy is not compiled and published by my Department. However, SHD data published by An Bord Pleanála is available. While SHD data does not represent the entire of the planning permissions for apartments which may be extant, they are a useful indicator for the majority of large scale developments. The following table is sourced from An Bord Pleanála published information and is a breakdown of extant planning permissions for apartments granted under the SHD process (over 100 units) up to the end of February 2022, divided into Build to Sell (BtS) and Build to Rent (BtR) apartments for each city. One development included both BtS and BtR apartments and is included in the breakdown.

For the purpose of this data, a city is defined as the area within the CSO 2016 Census Settlement Boundary of the relevant city. This is one of the eligibility criteria for Croí Cónaithe (Cities). Developments under active judicial review have been included for completeness.

There are a sizeable number of un-activated planning permissions for apartments in urban areas the construction of which can be advanced in the shorter term to meet important housing supply and compact growth objectives. In many cases, the cost of constructing new apartments is more than the price achievable in the sales market, leading to a clear viability gap as set out in a number of reports, including published findings.

To tackle this issue, Housing for All announced a new Croí Cónaithe (Cities) scheme to bridge that viability gap. Following extensive development work, I launched the scheme on the 10th May. My Department, together with the Housing Agency, developed the Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme drawing on

- a stakeholder engagement workshop on December 10th last, to gain feedback on the proposed scheme from industry experts;

- consultations with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Revenue Commissioners and legal advice in relation to the operational basis for the Scheme;

- Housing Agency, internal Department, published and commissioned research; and

- Housing Agency analysis and assessment modelling.

The scheme details, including reports on viability, form key elements of a State Aid notification currently with the Directorate General for Competition in the European Commission (DG Comp). I will consider publication of associated documentation at the appropriate time.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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309. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the breakdown of all affordable housing developments funded by his Department via AHF, CREL, the LDA or delivered via Part V by local authority area in tabular form; and the number of affordable homes in each scheme. [24580/22]