Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

475. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government how buy and renew social homes are reported by his Department, as acquisitions or as new builds; the number of buy and renew social homes delivered in each year from 2020 to 2024; and the average cost to the Exchequer each year from the delivery of these homes. [14166/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Local authorities are supported by my Department to purchase and renovate vacant/derelict properties to be upgraded as new, value-for-money social homes.

The Buy & Renew Scheme allows local authorities to acquire and refurbish such properties and since it was introduced in 2016, in excess of 950 properties have been delivered under this arrangement, as new social homes. Buy and Renew Units are counted as acquisitions and a breakdown of such units delivered from 2020 to 2024 and the total funding in each year is included below.

The Social Housing Investment Programme/SHIP which is the main capital programme that supports local authorities in the development of social housing, also provides them with full funding to acquire and renew/re-model existing vacant/derelict properties, effectively obsolete properties in need of more substantial capital investment, with a view to the delivery of new build social homes.

Given the opportunities this creates for local authorities to respond to more significant dereliction in town centres, I am pleased to see an increasing use of these options and there is no cap or restriction on the extent to which this approach may be used by local authorities, other than the individual projects being reasonable value for money.