Today, the Government published its Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, which sets out a practical and readily implementable set of actions that aim to increase annual housing supply to 25,000 units per annum by 2020, thereby creating a functioning and sustainable housing system. The plan is available at the website www.rebuildingireland.ie.
The plan is divided into five pillars, with each targeting a specific area of the housing system for attention. Pillar 3, entitled Build More Homes, has a key objective of increasing the output of private housing to meet demand at affordable prices. The range of actions are summarised in Appendix 1 of the Plan, and they include a new Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) with €200m in funding for infrastructure to facilitate housing provision at more affordable prices.
Pillar 4 of the Plan, entitled Improve the Rental Sector, has the overarching objective of addressing the obstacles to greater private rental sector delivery at more affordable rents. A key action under this pillar will be the introduction of a new model of affordable rental to provide more housing options for low income households. €10m has already been committed by Government for a pilot programme in 2016, and this is to be an on-going annual commitment. The details of the Scheme are currently being finalised in my Department for roll-out in the coming months.
