Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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106. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for an update on the croí cónaithe scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24222/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Pathway 4 of Housing for All sets out a blueprint to address vacancy and make efficient use of our existing housing stock. A key action under Pathway 4 was the introduction of the Croí Cónaithe Towns Fund in July 2022. The Fund provides for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant and the Ready to Build Scheme. At the outset, the Croí Cónaithe Towns fund aimed to deliver 2,000 homes by 2025. This target has since been increased to 4,000.

The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant supports bringing vacant and derelict properties back into use as homes. A grant of up to a maximum of €50,000 is available for the refurbishment of vacant properties for occupation as a principal private residence and for properties which will be made available for rent.

Where the refurbishment costs are expected to exceed the standard grant of up to €50,000, a maximum top-up grant of €20,000 is available where the property is confirmed by the applicant to be derelict or where the property is on the local authority’s Derelict Sites Register, bringing the total grant available for a derelict property up to a maximum of €70,000. The grant is available in respect of vacant and derelict properties built up to and including 2007, in towns, villages, cities and rural areas.

Over 8,000 grant applications have been received to date with over 4,900 approved. Drawdown of grants commenced at the end of 2023 as works started to be completed and this has steadily increased with 360 grants now paid. I expect this to significantly increase over 2024 as more refurbishment works are completed.

My Department publishes data on applications for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant on its website on a quarterly basis, which can be accessed at the following link: Vacancy grant statistics

Under the Ready to Build Scheme local authorities make serviced sites in towns and villages available to potential individual purchasers to build their homes. These sites are available at a discount on the market value of the site for the purposes of building a property for occupation as the principal private residence of the purchaser. To date 17 sites have been made available for sale under the scheme by three local authorities.

The Croí Cónaithe Cities Scheme launched in May 2022 supports building 5,000 apartments for sale in our cities to owner-occupiers up to 2026. 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 maximum funding available for each apartment is €120,000 (inclusive of VAT). However, this may be exceeded by no more than 20% (€144,000 inclusive of VAT) in certain cases in regional cities where lower market prices mean that the viability gap is larger

There have been two calls undertaken for expressions of interest under the Croí Cónaithe Cities Scheme to date. I can confirm five contracts have been signed for the delivery of 582 units in total, with an associated maximum subvention of circa €75m. This is comprised of 372 units that will be delivered in Cork, with a further 210 units in Dublin. A third call for expressions of interest under the Croí Cónaithe Cities Scheme is planned to take place over the summer.