Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
681. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the breakdown, by local authority, of the affordable cost rental housing targets funded by the cost rental equity loan from 2022 to 2026. [20843/22]
View answerA Housing Delivery Action Plan prepared by each Local Authority will underpin local authority delivery of affordable purchase and cost rental homes to 2026. This includes local authority delivery of Cost Rental homes utilising the support of the Affordable Housing Fund. Each Local Authority submitted the first iteration of their plans in December and my officials have now met with each authority. The final Delivery Action Plans are anticipated to be published in Q2 of this year.
Over the period to 2030, the Government's Housing for All strategy commits to delivering a total of 18,000 Cost Rental homes. Delivery will increase incrementally, to an average of 2,000 Cost Rental homes per year. This includes a target of c4,000 for the delivery of Cost Rental homes by Approved Housing Bodies utilising the Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) over the years 2022-2022
The CREL scheme has been designed as a method for funding the delivery of Cost Rental housing by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs). CREL provides funding for up to 30% of the capital costs of providing Cost Rental homes, with simple interest at 1% for 40 years. Legislative provision was made for the scheme under Section 40 of the Affordable Housing Act 2021, which enables the Housing Agency to issue loans to AHBs for this purpose
Rent levels for Cost Rental tenancies are based on the cost of the provision of homes, rather than being subject to market driven movement. State subventions therefore help to reduce the starting rents in the Cost Rental properties provided to those in the middle-income cohort. Approval in principle was confirmed for approximately 900 Cost Rental homes to be delivered by AHBs under the CREL scheme over the period 2021-2023.
