Written answers

Thursday, 1 December 2022

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Housing Policy

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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60. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide an update on the CREL review. [59799/22]

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Housing for All strategy commits to delivering a total of 18,000 Cost Rental homes over the period to 2030 and significant funding is made available to support provision 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 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.

To date, AHBs have utilised CREL funding to deliver the majority of the Cost Rental homes tenanted since the legislation was passed last year. Since the initial two CREL Calls for Proposals were issued and the establishment of a pipeline of l homes, increasing costs have directly impacted on the viability of schemes and the ultimate cost rent paid by tenants. It is within this environment and to improve delivery viability for AHBs that the Government has recently improved the original terms and conditions for CREL funding. The funding ceilings have increased, with the 30% flat rate being replaced and applications being assessed on a sliding scale basis, up to a ceiling of 45% of the total capital costs of delivering the homes. This includes a facility to access funding on an advance basis to enable site purchase or upfront deposits, will facilitate further direct delivery of Cost Rental homes by AHBs, and thereby support the development of a long-term AHB delivery pipeline. Budget 2023 also saw the funding allocation for CREL increase from €70m in 2022 to €75m for next year.

Furthermore, Local Authorities have been encouraged to deliver Cost Rental homes directly, by taking advantage of recent increase to the level of grant funding available under the AHF to fund the delivery of homes in key urban areas to €150,000 per unit. Funding for the AHF also rose in Budget 2023 from €60m in 2022 to €90m for next year. This will help further support the delivery of Cost Rental homes on State lands by Local Authorities.

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