Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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134. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will consider enabling local authorities to acquire proportions greater than 20% for social and affordable housing under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 - 2021 in certain circumstances, such as in Ardmore, County Waterford (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3642/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 relates to applicable developments of houses on any land that is zoned as residential (either exclusively or mixed use), or is granted planning permission for houses as a material contravention of the development plan. The purpose of Part V is for the State to capture a portion of the increase in land value resulting from the granting of planning permission for residential development.

The Part V legislation provides for local authorities to acquire up to 20% of this land at existing use value and to use it to deliver homes to those households who qualify for social and affordable housing support.

My Department introduced changes to Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 under Part 6 of the Affordable Housing Act 2021, which was enacted on 3 September 2021. The contribution required for social and affordable housing, including cost rental housing, under Part V of the Planning and Development 2000 is now a mandatory 20% for planning permissions granted in respect of land purchased before September 2015 and since 1 August 2021. Previous to this the Part V contribution was 10% for social housing only. On foot of these changes a minimum of 10% of the overall contribution must be for social housing and in areas where there is no affordable housing requirement, the entire net monetary value may be applied to social housing. These changes are now in effect for land bought pre-September 2015 or post July 2021.

Local authorities are free to decide how the 20% Part V contribution is broken down in terms of social and affordable housing (with a minimum 10% social housing). This is done in line with the local authorities housing need as identified in its Housing Strategy made as part of its Development Plan. Local authorities negotiate Part V agreements with developers as part of the planning process where they can ensure that any dwellings procured as part of these agreements meet with local need. I have no plans to further review Part V at this time.

It is important to note that Part V is only one delivery stream. Record levels of funding are being provided to support the delivery of social homes by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies. In 2025, over €6bn in investment is available to support the delivery of housing made up of €3.1bn exchequer funding, €1.25 allocated to the Land Development Agency (LDA) and €1.65bn for the Housing Finance Agency (HFA). Funding for 2025 includes over €2.3bn to support the delivery of affordable homes through a combination of Exchequer and other funding. This funding will support the delivery of affordable homes through the First Home Scheme, the Affordable Housing Fund, the Secure Tenancy Affordable Rental (STAR) scheme and the Help-to-Buy initiative.