Written answers

Thursday, 9 March 2023

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Housing Provision

Photo of Paul McAuliffePaul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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111. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide an update on his plans to provide affordable purchase and cost rental housing in Dublin 9 and Dublin 11; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11975/23]

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 54,000 affordable homes between now and 2030, to be facilitated by local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), the Land Development Agency (LDA) and through a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.

2022 represented the first year of a very ambitious programme of affordable housing delivery. Significant funding has been secured and is being made available to support delivery of affordable housing for purchase or for cost rental by local authorities, including those in Dublin City.

Funding under the various streams is made available on a programme basis in support of approved affordable housing schemes, rather than by allocations to counties. Housing for All has the largest ever housing budget in the history of the State to transform our housing system, with in excess of €20 billion in funding through the Exchequer, the LDA and the Housing Finance Agency over the five years.

Local authorities have published 5 year Housing Delivery Action Plans setting out affordable housing delivery targets up to 2026. Dublin City Council has a target of 2,114 affordable homes over this period, not including additional affordable homes that will be delivered through AHBs and the higher Part V requirements introduced through the Affordable Housing Act 2021. Dublin City Council's delivery plan can be accessed on its website.

Local authorities have begun the process of submitting data returns and information on delivery of affordable homes in their area in the same manner as is currently done for social housing. It is intended that information on delivery across all delivery streams will be gathered by my Department and I expect that my Department will be in a position to begin reporting on affordable delivery in national quarterly delivery statistics by the end of Q1 2023.

Dublin City Council made an Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) application to my Department last October to assist in the delivery of 12 affordable purchase homes in Poppintree, Ballymun. I approved this funding application last month and Dublin City Council has advised that these homes will be completed by the end of 2024.

Progress is also being made on the Oscar Traynor Road site with planning recently secured. Dublin City Council submitted the final funding application documents to my Department to support affordable housing provision there recently. The application is currently under assessment and a decision on funding approval will be issued to Dublin City Council shortly.

Last December I wrote to local authorities to set out the increased level of Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) subsidy available for applications in respect of Cost Rental apartment developments in cities. The maximum subsidy now available is €150,000 per home.

In addition, the First Home Scheme, launched last July, 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 and more information can be found at www.firsthomescheme.ie/

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