Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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43. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will outline progress to deliver affordable housing schemes for County Mayo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59842/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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An Affordable Housing Fund application was recently submitted by Mayo County Council to my Department to support a development of 13 affordable purchase homes in Springfield, Westport. I granted approval in principle to this application and Mayo County Council were advised of this last week. Scheduled delivery of these affordable homes will be in 2024.

Furthermore, I recently announced the ‘Ready to Build’ Scheme. The scheme will be funded from the Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund. Under the scheme, local authorities will make serviced sites available in towns and villages to potential purchasers for the building by the purchaser of a principal private residence. The sites will be sold at a discounted rate of up to €30,000 from the market value. The discount will be determined by the cost of servicing the site. This will facilitate the making available of some 2,000 sites for homes by 2025 and can be availed of by Mayo County Council to help meet affordable housing need.

Finally, the First Home Scheme, launched in July this year, supports first-time buyers in purchasing new houses and apartments in the private market through the use of an equity share model, similar to that employed in the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme. The Scheme aims to support in the region of 8,000 households in acquiring new homes in the private market in the years 2022 to 2026 with an overall budget of €400 million. The scheme is available nationwide.