Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 April 2022
374. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the breakdown of the 1,000 units to be delivered by the Land Development Agency in 2022 in terms of affordable purchase and affordable rental homes. [18150/22]
View answerHousing for All provides a new housing plan for Ireland to 2030 with the overall objective that every citizen in the State should have access to good quality homes through a steady supply of housing in the right locations, with economic, social and environmental sustainability built into the system. The Land Development Agency (LDA) is at the heart of this plan, advancing their remit to develop land, including public lands, for housing or other purposes.
The LDA’s Project Tosaigh is a market engagement initiative to unlock land with full planning permission that is not being developed by private sector owners due to financing and other constraints and use it to accelerate the supply of affordable housing. It allows the LDA to supplement the State lands it is already working on and accelerate the delivery of cost rental and affordable purchase homes by unlocking private land that is ready to be developed but where construction has stalled or not commenced.
It is characterised by:
- Activation of planning consents that have not commenced or are proceeding more slowly than optimal;
- Achieving delivery both in the near term, as well as providing a 5-year programme of delivery;
- An open and transparent process, compliant with procurement rules;
- A focus on delivery of affordable homes with some social homes to be secured if conditions allow, while securing value for money for the State.
Under this initiative, the target is to deliver 5,000 new homes by 2026 through cost rental or affordable purchase to eligible households. I am advised by the LDA that the proposals they received on foot of their Expressions of Interest call for Phase 1 of Project Tosaigh related to delivery in 2022, 2023, 2024 and beyond. Negotiations with housebuilders for homes for cost rental and affordable purchase, with priority afforded to schemes with 2022 and 2023 delivery, are ongoing. While it is challenging to secure delivery at the targeted scale within 2022, the LDA is focussed on this through its negotiations and is clear on the Government’s priorities in this respect. The LDA will be able to provide a clearer view on numbers and tenures as it gets closer to contractual commitments.
