Increasing the supply of housing is a priority for my Department. The Programme for Government commits to increasing the social housing stock by more than 50,000, with an emphasis on new build homes.
Budget 2021 provided €3.3 billion for the delivery of housing. The available funding will deliver 12,750 new social homes through build, acquisition and leasing. A major focus of this investment is the delivery of new build, with an overall target of 9,500 new homes, in addition to 800 acquisitions and 2,450 homes to be delivered through leasing programmes. The Government will be publishing a new housing strategy this year, which will set out details of social housing delivery for 2021-2025, including social housing targets for 2022 onwards.
With regards to urban regeneration projects, the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund is a flagship element of Project Ireland 2040. Under the stewardship of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Fund was established to support more compact and sustainable development, through the regeneration and rejuvenation of Ireland’s five cities and other large towns, in line with the objectives of the National Planning Framework and National Development Plan. This is to enable a greater proportion of residential and mixed-use development to be delivered within the existing built-up footprints of our cities and towns and to ensure that more parts of our urban areas can become attractive and vibrant places in which people choose to live and work, as well as to invest and to visit.
