Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 February 2019
662. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of affordable houses to be provided in Dublin city and county in 2019; the way in which the scheme will operate; the estimated price of the affordable houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8238/19]
View answerAffordable housing, for purchase or cost rental, is being targeted for delivery through a range of measures overseen by my Department, including direct delivery from State land supported by the Serviced Sites Fund (SSF); delivery under the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) and delivery by the Land Development Agency (LDA), which was established late last year.
Under the SSF, €310 million is available from 2019 until 2021, to fund facilitating infrastructure, on local authority sites, to support the provision of over 6,000 affordable homes. I issued approval in December 2018 for funding for 10 infrastructure projects costing €43 million, which will support the delivery of 1,400 affordable homes. Seven of these projects are in Dublin, with the potential to deliver over 1,250 new affordable homes. Infrastructure works on these projects will begin as soon as possible and the delivery of affordable homes is anticipated from early 2020 onwards.
LIHAF will also yield an affordable housing dividend, with some 2,350 affordable homes being facilitated on sites benefiting from LIHAF funding, while a further 5,600 homes will benefit from a LIHAF-related cost reduction. In addition, the LDA is actively pursuing the development of an initial tranche of 8 sites yielding 3,000 homes, at least 30% of which will be affordable homes.
Affordable housing for purchase will operate in accordance with the provisions of Part 5 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, while cost rental will initially be implemented on an administrative basis. The target grouping will be single applicant households earning up to €50,000 per annum and dual applicant households earning up to €75,000 per annum. In relation to affordable homes for purchase, the Part 5 arrangements allow for a discount from market of up to 40%, with the discount being held as an equity stake by the local authority until subsequently bought out by the household or captured on resale. The price of individual homes will be determined on a project by project basis.
