Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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451. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the measures he is taking to increase private residential rental supply, amid an exodus of landlords from the market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29901/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Housing for All is the Government’s housing plan to 2030. It is a multi-annual, multi-billion-euro plan which will improve Ireland’s housing system and deliver more homes of all types for people with different housing needs. The plan will increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year to 2030. Over 300,000 new homes will be built by the end of 2030, including a projected 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes.

Over 100,000 new homes have been completed since July 2020. In particular, the increasing number of new homes being built since the publication of Housing for All in September 2021, shows that the plan is making an impact. The number of new homes delivered last year was the highest in fifteen years, with 32,695 new homes completed in 2023, 10% higher than in 2022 and exceeding Housing for All’s 2023 target of 29,000 by almost 13%. Rolling 12-month completions are up 3% year-on-year, from 30,744 in Q1 2023 to 31,820 in Q1 2024 – this is the third quarter in a row the rolling 12-month completions have surpassed 31,000.

In the last 12 months (June 2023 to May 2024) there has been 51,935 new homes commenced, up 86% from 27,855 in the prior 12 months (June 2022 to May 2023). This increase in commencements, allied with the recent upward trend in new residential planning permissions, suggest the recent substantial uplift in supply can be sustained and built upon in coming years.

Under Housing for All, I introduced Cost Rental, a new form of tenure where rents are set only to cover the cost of financing, building, managing and maintaining the homes. The plan commits to delivering a total of 18,000 Cost Rental homes over the period to 2030, and significant funding is being made available to support provision by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), local authorities, the Land Development Agency (LDA), and now also private providers under the new Secure Tenancy Affordable Rental (STAR) investment scheme.

Last year the Government approved additional support for AHBs to deliver Cost Rental homes by increasing funding under the Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) scheme to now a maximum of 55% of capital costs, comprising a mixture of favourable loan financing and State equity investment. My Department has also extended 'Accelerated CREL' early drawdowns, in order to support forward-funding of homes and the achievement of more competitive acquisition or development costs.

Since its introduction, over 1,700 Cost Rental homes have been delivered to date and following the introduction of the measures I have already outlined, a strong pipeline of Cost Rental homes is now in place, and under continuous development, across all delivery streams.

The Government is acting decisively to expand the options for those currently facing affordability constraints in renting a home with an unprecedented level of financial commitment and delivery ambition. The measures to improve affordability and increase supply introduced by Government are reducing the rental pressures on thousands of hard-pressed middle income earners.

Rental market churn or entries and exits from the rental market has historically been difficult to track. However, in recent times, access to information relating to the ‘Annual Registration’ of tenancies with the Residential Tenancies Board is helping to provide a more accurate picture of participants in the rental market and trends that emerge will continue to be monitored and any necessary actions taken.

Under Housing for All, the Government is committed to increasing supply and protecting renters while trying to keep small landlords in the system. The Housing for All Action Plan Update (November 2023) includes Action 21 – Publish the review of the private rental market. My Department is currently finalising this review which will inform Government on a number of potential policy measures which could be taken to support a well-functioning private rental sector in Ireland. I intend to bring the review to Government before the summer recess for approval to publish.