Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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My Department continues to monitor all aspects of the housing market, including the rate of property price inflation. As of January 2024, annual property price inflation was 5.4 per cent.

The Government’s primary response to mitigating residential price inflation is to increase supply. I am encouraged by the momentum in housing delivery at present. Last year, there were 32,695 new residential homes completed according to the Central Statistics Office. This is 10 per cent higher than the number of new homes built in 2022.

The pipeline of future housing delivery is also encouraging. In the 12 months to February 2024, construction commenced on 35,752 new homes, the highest number of commencements in any 12 month period since the series began in 2014. Planning permission was also granted for the construction of 41,225 new homes in 2023, which is 21 per cent higher than the previous year.

We are also seeing progress on the delivery of social housing, with 11,939 new social homes delivered via various means by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies in 2023, an increase of 16 per cent on the previous year.

Of course, further progress is required and that is why the addition of new and affordable homes continues to be supported through Government action. In Budget 2024, €2.6 billion of capital investment was allocated to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for housing. This capital provision will be supplemented by Land Development Agency investment and Housing Finance Agency lending, resulting in an overall capital provision for housing of over €5 billion for 2024. As part of Budget 2024, I increased the Vacant Homes Tax to five times the property’s existing basic Local Property Tax rate to help tackle vacancy.

The Government also continues to support first-time buyers. To that end, last year I extended the Help to Buy scheme to the end of 2025 which will provide further support to first-time buyers with the deposit they need to buy or build a new house or apartment. The First Home Scheme was also established to help first-time buyers to bridge the gap between their mortgage, deposit and the price of a new home. As of the end of 2023, 3,196 buyers have been approved by the scheme. This progress is making a real difference to first-time buyers. Data from the Banking & Payments Federation show that in 2023, first-time buyers accounted for 25,591 mortgage drawdowns, the highest level in a single year since 2007.

The only long-term sustainable solution to rising prices is to increase the supply of all types of homes - social, affordable, rental and owner-occupier. I will continue to work with my Government colleagues to ensure supply targets are achieved.