Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

221. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the total number of respondents nationally to the call by the Land Development Agency for projects under Project Tosaigh; the number of respondents for same in Dublin; the aggregate potential in terms of homes; the approach that the LDA proposes to take in selecting sites on which to deliver homes at an affordable price. [25948/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Land Development Agency’s (LDA) Project Tosaigh is a market engagement initiative to unlock land with full planning permission that is not being developed by private sector owners due to financing and other constraints and use it to accelerate the supply of affordable housing.

Itallows the LDA to supplement the State lands it is already working on and accelerate the delivery of cost rental and affordable purchase homes by unlocking private land that is ready to be developed but where construction has stalled or not commenced.

The first strand of Project Tosaigh involved an expressions of interest (EOI) process, launched in November 2021, to engage builders and landowners in forward purchase agreements, with the intention of securing stock in certain developments in the shorter term. The LDA received an overall positive market response, with over 65 Expressions of Interest comprising over 100 development projects.

The LDA has advised my Department that their project team has evaluated a significant proportion of the proposals over the past number of months, focusing on those with potential for delivery in 2022 first, and advanced a number of them to pre-contract stage (i.e., Commercial Heads of Terms exchanged with the counterparties). While delivery is a clear objective, the LDA is also focused on value for money considerations.

In parallel, schemes submitted where delivery would be expected to begin in 2023 and thereafter are being reviewed and engagements with parties in respect of those schemes are now underway.

The target under Project Tosaigh is the delivery of 5,000 new homes by 2026 for affordable cost rental or sale to eligible households under affordable purchase arrangements.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

222. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the undertaking made by each local authority to the development affordable homes for purchase in each of the coming years for which he has sought a commitment. [25949/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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 initial 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.

While all local authorities are encouraged to bring forward affordable schemes where they are needed, specific targets have been allocated to 18 local authorities to bring forward delivery in addition to the Land Development Agency (LDA), Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) or Part V delivery in their area. These local authorities are those where it has been identified that the need for affordable housing is a significant proportion of overall housing need.

In addition to the targeted local authority delivery, affordable purchase and Cost Rental homes will also be made available by AHBs and the LDA as part of the overall affordable housing delivery commitment under ‘Housing For All’.

The delivery targets, for local authority arranged delivery only, for each of the local authorities concerned are shown in this table below:

Housing for All:- Local Authority Affordable Housing Delivery Targets from LA Lands or Advance Purchase 2022 - 2026

Specific targets have not been set for the remaining 13 local authorities regarding their provision of affordable housing. It will be a matter for each of these local authorities to consider whether a particular requirement for affordable housing arises and whether it will bring forward specific affordable schemes to meet this need. My Department and the Housing Agency are available to assist in this regard.

Where local authorities without affordable housing targets have localised affordability challenges in key towns, they can apply to my Department for funding to develop affordable housing schemes where they can demonstrate that an affordable scheme is needed to address those localised affordability challenges and they can fulfil the criteria for the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF).

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 July of 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:

, and