Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

340. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide 50% flexibility to homeless HAP in Galway city, as is provided for in Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51476/22]

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

Under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme, tenants source their own accommodation in the private rented market. The accommodation sourced by tenants should be within the prescribed maximum HAP rent limits, which are based on household size and the rental market within the area concerned.

The Programme for Government commits to ensuring that HAP levels are adequate to support vulnerable households, while we increase the supply of social housing. Under Housing for All, my Department was tasked with undertaking an analytical exercise to examine whether an increase in the level of discretion available to Local Authorities under HAP is required. The Housing Agency undertook to carry out this analytical exercise on behalf of the Department to better understand what level of discretion should be made available to Local Authorities under HAP to maintain adequate levels of support.

Following receipt and analysis of this review, I, in cooperation with Government colleagues and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, have now approved an increase in the HAP discretion rate from 20% to 35% and for new tenancies to extend the couple’s rate to single person households. This will secure more tenancies and prevent new entries to homelessness. Both these measures came into effect from 11 July 2022.

It is a matter for each local authority to determine whether the application of a discretionary increase is warranted, and the level of such an increase, on a case-by-case basis.

I am committed to decreasing our reliance on the HAP scheme and central to that is significantly scaling up our social housing supply. Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 47,600 new build social homes in the period 2022?2026. Our clear focus is to increase the stock of social housing through new build projects delivered by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies. My Department publishes comprehensive programme-level statistics on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity in all local authorities. This data is available until the end of Quarter 2 2022 and is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

341. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the current upper limits per unit for the affordable housing fund and the cost-rental equity loan. [51510/22]

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

The Government's Housing for All strategy commits to delivering a total of 18,000 Cost Rental homes over the period to 2030. Significant funding has been secured and is being made available to support delivery of Cost Rental by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), Local Authorities and by the Land Development Agency (LDA).

Delivery will increase incrementally, to an average of 2,000 Cost Rental homes per year. 10,000 Cost Rental homes will be delivered from 2021 to 2026. AHBs will be supported by Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) funding and Local Authorities will be able to avail of funding for Cost Rental delivery through the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF). The LDA will also deliver Cost Rental on its own portfolio of sites, or through acquisitions under Project Tosaigh.

In accordance with the objectives of Housing For All, currently under the Affordable Housing Fund, dwellings in schemes with a net density of over 50 dwellings per hectare in cities designated under the National Planning Framework can qualify for funding of up to €100,000 per unit, dwellings in schemes with a net density of over 35 dwellings and under 50 dwellings per hectare can qualify for funding of up to €75,000 per unit, and dwellings in schemes with a net density of less than 35 dwellings per hectare can qualify for funding of up to €50,000 per unit.

International events have contributed to an increase in the cost of loan co-financing and the trajectory of interest rates which impacts AHB delivery of Cost Rental homes as well as all housing providers. Combined with the ongoing impact of construction cost inflation, the viability of schemes has become more challenging, negatively affecting the required level of cost rent paid by tenants.

With this in mind, Government has decided that it is appropriate to increase the funding ceilings available per dwelling delivered for both the CREL and AHF schemes. The changes for both schemes will be subject to defined criteria which allows the demonstration of need and the operational parameters for implementation are currently being finalised and will be completed over the coming weeks.

Budget 2023 saw the funding allocation for CREL increase from €70m in 2022 to €75m for next year, while funding for Local Authorities through the AHF rose from €60m in 2022 to €90m for 2023. The changes to these two schemes, combined with the increased funding available, will help to address some of the challenges faced by AHBs and Local Authorities in the continued implementation of Cost Rental schemes. The funding available will help to continue to target rents achievable for Exchequer-supported Cost Rental homes at a minimum discount of 25% below open market rates.