Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 November 2020
386. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the date he plans to make an official announcement and launch of an affordable housing scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36776/20]
View answer388. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the legislation for an affordable housing scheme; when it will come before Dáil Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36835/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 386 and 388 together.
In Budget 2021, the total funding being made available for the delivery of housing programmes was €3.3 billion. From this sum, €110 million was ring-fenced for a new national Affordable Purchase Shared Equity Scheme and a new Cost Rental Equity Loan facility to help deliver Cost Rental homes. Both of these programmes will begin in 2021.
€75 million will be allocated to the affordable purchase shared equity scheme. I intend to target the scheme at first time buyers, who are seeking to buy a new home but who cannot quite secure the full mortgage amount to do so at the present time. Subject to the final qualifying criteria, the scheme would see the State take a limited equity stake in a property, in order to help more people meet the cost of buying a new home with their available mortgage.
To this end, significant preparatory work has already been carried out by my Department working primarily with the Housing Agency and the Department of Finance. Intensive engagement continues with key stakeholders informing the final detailed parameters of the scheme, as well as with home builders to seek to increase the output of new homes in response to the new scheme.
In addition, €35m has been allocated to the new Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) facility to support Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) to deliver approximately 350 Cost Rental homes at scale from next year. Added to the 50 Cost Rental homes that will be delivered in Enniskerry Road, Stepaside in Q3 2021, it will accelerate delivery in this new sector in advance of the Land Development Agency's planned future output and the work of local authorities. This scheme will leverage the proven expertise and capacity of the AHBs, demonstrated in their development and management of social housing units.
The CREL scheme will see financing made available to AHBs on favourable terms to cover 30% of the costs for Cost Rental homes. CREL funding will be provided on similar terms to the existing Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) model which is extensively used by AHBs for social housing. In terms of the remaining 70% of capital costs, subject to appropriate conditions, it is anticipated that long term competitive financing will be made available to the AHBs by the Housing Finance Agency. This will allow cost-covering rents to be set at a lower level and so making them more affordable for tenants. Further details on the scheme will be announced in due course.
I intend to bring forward any necessary provisions to underpin these schemes in a forthcoming Affordable Housing Bill which will be brought to Government in the coming weeks.
