Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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269. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide an update under Housing for All on a new Croí Cónaithe cities fund to increase owner-occupier apartment development in city centres. [7133/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme supports the building of apartments for sale to owner-occupiers. The scheme aims to bridge the current “viability gap” between the cost of building apartments and the market sale price (where the cost of building is greater). The scheme is targeted principally at activating planning permissions already in place for such homes.

The scheme launched in May 2022 with an Expressions of Interest process which is being managed and administered by The Housing Agency on behalf of my Department. Since receipt of applications in June 2022, The Housing Agency has been undertaking the various appraisal stages which deal with the following:

1. Eligibility of proposals

2. Ranking of suitable proposals and

3. A detailed due diligence process leading to designation (current stage).

On 6 February 2023, my Department received notification from the Directorate General for Competition in the European Commission (DG COMP) that the scheme has been deemed compatible with the internal market. This positive decision enables The Housing Agency to actively progress matters on processing and concluding Stage 3 of the Scheme and will allow the building of designated apartments to get underway.

Per the Housing for All Action Plan Update (November 2022), a second call under the scheme is expected to be announced by end Q2 2023.