Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 December 2021
94. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of serviced sites fund, affordable housing funding and affordable purchase homes that have been completed to date in 2021; the details of their location, unit size and sale price; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62209/21]
View answerThe Housing for All Strategy delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to step up housing supply and put affordability at the heart of the housing system, with an ambitious target of 300,000 homes over the next decade for social, affordable and cost rental, private rental and private ownership housing.
Measures to deliver this housing are supported by over €4 billion in funding annually, representing the highest ever level of Government investment in building social and affordable housing. 54,000 affordable homes interventions will be delivered between now and 2030 to be facilitated by local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies, the Land Development Agency and through a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.
The delivery of affordable housing, in accordance with the schemes set out in the Affordable Housing Act, 2021 and the funding being made available, will be underpinned by local authorities' Housing Delivery Action Plans. Local authorities will be submitting their Plans to me, to include social and affordable housing before end December 2021. This will allow each local authority to assess the level of demand with affordability constraint in their area based on the Housing Need and Demand Assessment and plan provision accordingly.
Funding to support local authority delivery of affordable housing was made available through the Serviced Sites Fund (SSF). Following the Programme for Government commitment to extend the SSF, a progress review of SSF projects was undertaken. Considering feedback from local authorities, significant improvements to the scheme, now named the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF), have been agreed and communicated to local authorities by Circular in June 2021.
My Department has been accepting AHF applications since 1 September 2021. Furthermore, my Department has engaged with the 14 local authorities with SSF schemes approved in principle to clarify the status of their approved SSF projects.
For those SSF schemes that are currently under construction, the Covid pandemic has had an impact on the projected timelines for delivery of housing, due to the closure of the construction sector earlier this year. Accordingly, the first project to be delivered will be the pilot Cost Rental project at Enniskerry Road which will deliver 50 Cost Rental homes. The first affordable purchase homes will be the first phase of the Boherboy Road scheme in Cork City. There will be 9 affordable purchase homes delivered in the first phase. Both of these projects will be delivered in early 2022.
In relation to the scheme governing the affordable purchase of local authority provided or arranged affordable housing, it is intended that regulations regarding income eligibility in respect of the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme will be in place very shortly.
