Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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42. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government what measures he has put in place to support renters seeking accommodation who are not eligible for local authority housing in the north-West. [15766/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Government’s Housing for All plan is focused on tackling supply and affordability issues in the rental market. The plan contains targets, actions and guaranteed State investment aimed at increasing supply, which in turn will help increase access to affordable rental housing.

The Government is providing a range of measures to support renters, which include:

• Budget 2024 increased the tax credit for renters to €750;
• As committed to under Housing for All, affordable Cost Rental homes are coming onto the market, some of which have been advertised at rates that are 40% to 50% lower than market rent. This form of tenure targets middle-income households, with household net annual income of less than €59,000;
• To date there are over 1,600 Cost Rental homes in the State delivered by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), Local Authorities and the LDA;
• Further progress is being made by the LDA providing affordable and social housing through their market engagement initiative, Project Tosaigh, and through their work developing relevant public land;
• In 2023, the LDA has delivered over 560 Cost Rental homes through Project Tosaigh in four local authority areas, with over 2,500 Social, Affordable Purchase and Cost Rental homes having now either been delivered, contracted or recommended to proceed to procurement under this initiative;
• Over €675m has been approved under the Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) to assist in the delivery of over 3,250 Cost Rental homes across 12 local authority areas. In addition, key changes made to the CREL scheme in 2023 are now supporting additional delivery in 2024 and onwards;
• There is a further pipeline of 1,437 local authority Cost Rental homes across thirteen projects.
• The Secure Tenancy Affordable Rental scheme (STAR) provides investment of up to €750m for the delivery of new Cost Rental homes by the private sector out to 2027. This scheme aims to address viability challenges in the housing sector & activate un-commenced sites. To date 25 applications have been received. In 2023 I approved STAR funding totalling €59.6m to support the delivery of 426 cost rental units;
• In July 2021, the Rent Pressure Zones (RPZ) were extended until to the end of 2024 and have banned any rent increase in a RPZ from exceeding general inflation; this measure significantly reduced the level of permissible rent increases for the estimated 77% of all tenancies which are in RPZs;
• In December 2021, legislation was enacted to cap rent increases at a maximum of 2% in Rent Pressure Zones where general inflation is higher; and
• Legislation enacted in 2022 provided for tenancies of unlimited duration. All new tenancies created on or after 11 June 2022 will become tenancies of unlimited duration after 6 consecutive months in occupation under the tenancy, without a valid notice of termination having been served.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 43, 150 and 152 together.

Under Housing for All, there is a policy objective to increase and improve housing options for older people to facilitate ageing in place with dignity and independence. Housing for All builds on and takes forward the ongoing actions in "Housing Options for Our Ageing Population" policy statement from 2019, published jointly by my Department and the Department of Health, which provides policy options in support of a range of housing and accommodation alternatives for older people.

A key action of Housing for All required local authorities to develop Housing Delivery Action Plans to include details of both social and affordable housing delivery as appropriate over the period 2022-2026, in line with targets set under Housing for All. The Plans also include details of proposed delivery of housing for older people. Housing Delivery Action Plans are published on the websites of the respective local authorities. In addition, arising from an action in Housing Options for our Ageing Population and in conjunction with Tailte Éireann, my Department developed a Geographical Information System (GIS) Mapping Decision Support Tool to support the development of housing specifically for older people on the best available sites appropriate to their needs and close to essential services. This Tool and relevant training is now in use by local authorities to decide on the best sites to develop housing for older people.

The Housing for All policy objective to make more efficient use of existing housing stock includes the development of a national policy on rightsizing and to explore options to support and incentivise rightsizing on a voluntary basis. Whilst some local authorities operate rightsizing schemes, housing supports and the oversight and practical management of housing waiting lists, including the application for, and allocation of, tenancies, is solely a matter for the relevant local authority in accordance with the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, and associated regulations. Work is being advanced in my Department to inform and progress the development of national policy on rightsizing.

Further detail on the numbers of households who have availed of local authority rightsizing schemes may be available directly from local authorities.