Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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542. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his proposals to increase social housing stock; the measures put in place in this regard since 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7829/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Government is fully committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver social, affordable and cost rental homes at scale and to continue accelerating housing supply across all tenures. This is demonstrated by the record level of investment which is being provided for the delivery of Housing in 2025, with overall capital funding available of €6.5 billion. The capital provision is supplemented by a further €1.65 billion in current funding to address housing need.

The number of completed new build social homes, and the number in the pipeline, continues to remain strong year-on-year, with new construction projects added to the pipeline regularly. The strongest national delivery of social housing since 1975 was recorded in 2022 when 10,254 homes were delivered and that record was exceeded again in 2023. In total in 2023, 11,938 new social homes were delivered by local authorities and AHBs, including 8,110 new-build homes, 1,829 acquisitions and 1,999 homes through leasing programmes.

The Tenant in Situ Acquisitions Programme was introduced by way of Government decision in 2023. It was originally intended as a short term response to the reported uplift in sales by landlords of homes which were within the HAP and RAS schemes in order to prevent potential homelessness where other solutions could not be found for the affected tenants. A further Government decision extended the programme into 2024 with approval granted for 1,300 Tenant in Situ acquisitions in addition to the 200 priority acquisitions target for 2024 contained in Housing for All.

The latest Social Housing Construction Status Report (CSR) shows that 12,492 social homes were onsite at the end of Q3 2024 with an additional 15,750 homes at design and tender stage, giving a total of 28,242 homes at all stages of design and build. In Quarter 3 2024, 124 new construction schemes (1,921 homes) were added to the pipeline. Data for the Q4 2024 CSR is currently being collated.

A central element of Housing for All is to build institutional capacity. As part of the measures to support institutional capacity, Housing for All commits to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to both programme manage and initiate, design, plan, develop and manage housing projects and recognises that this requires the resourcing of the housing services of local authorities. More than 250 additional housing posts have been approved in local authorities nationally to deliver social housing. Additional resources were also allocated to the Housing Agency Project and Procurement Office to support local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies deliver housing.

In order to accelerate the approval process, local authorities have options that allow them to deviate from using the 4-stage process to achieve funding approval for social housing construction projects. The value for Single Stage projects has increased from €2m to €8m. This increased single stage approval process takes approximately 4 weeks with my Department.

Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) has been identified as a key measure to address increased housing delivery and methods to support increased use of MMC are set out in Pathway 5 of Housing for All. In July 2023 the Roadmap for increased adoption of MMC in Public Housing delivery was published and sets out recommendations to progress the most advanced and efficient construction methods in the delivery of housing

In December 2022, funding of €94m was provided to local authorities to address legacy land debts. The provision of this funding was linked to the immediate development of a housing proposal, a commitment to use Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and for construction to start in 2023 or no later than 2024. A total of 26 sites received funding as part of an accelerated delivery programme, and with some additional sites since added, my Department is overseeing a project to progress delivery of MMC projects on 36 sites which will deliver more than 1,500 new social homes across 13 local authorities.

My Department has embedded the requirement to adopt a standardised approach for all Social Housing projects through adoption of the Design Manual for Quality Housing and Employers Requirements. Standard internal layouts and CAD Drawings are available to design teams. This is promoting a consistent approach nationally; it is decreasing the amount of time spent on reviewing proposals to achieve value for money; it is shortening detailed design phases; and it allows for a more efficient tender process.

The Housing for All Land Acquisition Fund was established in 2022 to support local authorities to acquire land to deliver new build social housing schemes and this was extended in 2024 to include land for affordable housing. The fund has an overall allocation of €239m and is managed by the Housing Agency.

The review of the CALF Funding Model has also brought an opportunity for the AHB and local authority sectors to bring forward both new projects and those which have been delayed due to viability issues, especially in those local authorities’ areas where the viability of schemes was traditionally an issue. The new CALF scheme has unlocked these areas for social housing delivery.

Last year, Government approved new national housing targets up to the year 2030. 303,000 homes will aim to be delivered in the period from 2025 to 2030, equating to an annual average of 50,500 homes, building up to 60,000 in 2030. The revised targets were informed by research and modelling by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) on population projections and long-run housing demand, which was published during the summer. The revised national housing targets will inform the revision to existing social and affordable housing targets at a local authority level. Work is ongoing in this regard.

My Department publishes comprehensive programme-level statistics on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in each local authority. This data is available to the end of Q3 2024, and is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/

Significant progress is being made to deliver the ambitious targets contained in Housing for All and my Department is working closely with the local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies and other stakeholders to accelerate the delivery of social and affordable housing.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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543. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his proposals to increase the availability of affordable housing; the measures put in place in this regard since 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7830/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is acutely aware of the housing challenges faced by many sectors of society. Housing for All, Ireland's housing plan to 2030, is the most ambitious and comprehensive housing plan in the history of the State. The Plan contains a suite of actions that have and continue to increase the provision of housing through accelerating supply and increasing the affordability of homes for our citizens.

Under the Programme for Government published in January 2025, the Government committed to introduce a new, all of government, national housing plan to follow Housing for All. My Department is currently examining that commitment, its implementation and the potential timeframe.

While work is being undertaken to progress a new plan which will build on progress to date, the measures detailed in Housing for All will continue to be progressed to accelerate and increase delivery of secure and affordable housing.

The Housing for All plan can be accessed at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/ef5ec-housing-for-all-a-new-housing-plan-for-ireland/#view-the-plan, with updates to the plan available online, www.gov.ie/en/press-release/a8894-housing-for-all-update/.

The plan has an extensive list of measures to promote supply of housing and to ensure that we make the best use of existing housing stock.

A list of affordable housing supports in place is available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/0d279-doors-open/, this includes information on the schemes below. A number of these schemes can be combined, thereby providing additional affordability support.

• Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme

• First Home Scheme

• Local Authority Home Loan

• Local Authority Purchase and Renovation Loan

• Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant

• Help to Buy.