Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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101. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he is considering additional funding to the Land Development Agency for a specific purpose of funding acquisition of long-term vacant and derelict buildings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19524/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Land Development Agency's (LDA) Business Plan 2024-2028 plans to deliver approximately 14,000 homes over its lifetime, including through the adaptive reuse of existing buildings where appropriate such as at the former St. Kevin’s Hospital in Cork and Devoy Barracks in Naas. To deliver housing on this scale, the Government have provided for the investment of up to €2.5 billion from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, €1.25 billion in borrowing capacity and as well as identifying a further €1.25 billion from other sources. This commitment will ultimately enable funding of up to €5 billion for the LDA.

A sub-committee of the Housing for All Investment group has been formed to determine the appropriate longer term funding structure of the LDA. This group will consider a broad range of financing options for the Agency, including the role of debt, additional public funding and the use of self-generated income by the LDA. I will consider additional funding for the LDA once the deliberations of this sub-committee have concluded.

Under the Vacant Homes Action Plan, a new CPO Activation Programme was launched by my Department in April 2023. The Programme supports a proactive and systematic approach by local authorities to bringing vacant properties back into use. It also includes guidance for local authorities to actively use their legislative powers to acquire vacant and derelict properties, where engagement with owners has been unsuccessful.

A €150 million Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) is available for local authorities to acquire vacant or derelict properties for re-use or sale, using their compulsory purchase powers were necessary. The Fund will be replenished from the proceeds received from the sale or reuse of a site, allowing a local authority to establish a rolling programme to tackle vacancy. In addition to URDF funding, the Social Housing Capital Funding Programmes (Social Housing Investment Programme (SHIP) and the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS)) support local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies to tackle dereliction and vacancy through the repurposing/renewing of vacant buildings and blocks as new social homes. The funding for re-purposing/renewing vacant buildings or blocks as new social homes, including single ‘Buy & Renew’ properties is drawn from the €1.4 billion capital funding available under the SHIP and CAS programmes and is demand-led.