Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 July 2020
330. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if he will provide detailed information on the roll out of the affordable services sites in the programme for Government. [14573/20]
View answerThe statutory basis for the delivery of affordable housing for purchase in the State is Part 5 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2009 which was commenced in June 2018. Regulations in respect of the making of a Scheme of Priority were signed in March 2019, and were subsequently issued to local authorities. The Scheme of Priority sets out the affordable purchase arrangements at local authority level, including the methodology to be applied by local authorities to determine the order of priority to be accorded to eligible households where demand exceeds supply. Further legislative provisions regulations are currently being prepared covering eligibility and other operational matters.
To support the delivery of the homes that will be made available by local authorities for purchase under the scheme, €310 million was made available under the Serviced Sites Fund (SSF). This fund subvents the cost of facilitating infrastructure and a maximum SSF funding amount of €50,000 is available per affordable home. On this basis, at least 6,200 more affordable homes, to buy or rent, can be facilitated by this measure alone. This funding is being made available in areas where local authorities have demonstrated a requirement for more affordable housing and the viability to deliver such housing from their sites. To date, funding of €127 million has been approved in principle to provide infrastructural works that will support 35 projects in 14 local authorities, delivering 3,200 homes.
Details of all SSF projects that have received approval in principle under both SSF calls and the number of more affordable homes whose delivery will be supported by SSF funding are available on the Rebuilding Ireland website at the following links:
Call 1:
https://rebuildingireland.ie/news/minister-murphy-gives-the-go-ahead-for-ten-local-authority-sites-for-affordable-housing-under-the-serviced-sites-fund/
Call 2:
https://rebuildingireland.ie/news/minister-murphy-approves-funding-of-e84m-to-support-delivery-of-1770-affordable-homes-under-the-ssf/
On 16th November 2019, the sod was officially turned on a housing development at Boherboy in Cork City, the first such scheme to be delivered under the SSF. This project will see the development of 153 mixed tenure homes in total, of which 116 will be affordable homes. Cork City Council has advised this Department that the project will be delivered in six different phases, with the first phase to be delivered in the 1st quarter of 2021.
Under this Government's tenure the delivery of affordable homes under the SSF and through all other mechanisms will be accelerated and expanded.
The Programme for Government commits to putting affordability at the heart of the housing system and the progression of a State-backed affordable home purchase scheme to promote home ownership is a priority.
