Rebuilding Ireland has put in place both the targets and funding resources to accelerate the delivery by 2021 of 47,000 social homes. This work is already well underway and we are increasingly seeing new social housing construction projects move onto site. I recently published the latest update of the Status Report on Social Housing Construction Projects, which now includes over 600 social housing construction projects, delivering over 10,000 social housing units. This is available at the following link: http://rebuildingireland.ie/news/social-housing-construction-projects-report-2017/.
The construction projects listed in the Status Report are either on site, at different stages of planning and design or have recently been completed. As would be expected, given housing need, the Dublin area local authorities and those adjacent to Dublin feature very strongly in this construction programme. The same is true in relation to the delivery in the greater Dublin area of social housing through other means, which are also being vigorously pursued through the resources available under Rebuilding Ireland. This includes the acquisition of houses and apartments, the long-term leasing of homes by local authorities and AHBs for social housing use, including via the National Treasury Management Agency’s Special Purpose Vehicle and the Repair & Leasing Initiative, and the accelerated rollout of the Housing Assistance Payment Scheme.
Further new social housing projects are being added to the delivery pipeline on a continuous basis and I am keen that all local authorities advance these projects as speedily as possible. This delivery will continue to be weighted in line with housing need and this can be particularly seen in relation to the rapid delivery programme, where a number of build projects are on site in the greater Dublin area that will deliver 200 new social homes over the coming months, with work already underway on advancing a further round of projects.
