Thomas Gould
Question:236. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the estimated number of cost-rental units to be delivered in Cork city for the years 2022 to 2026. [26394/22]
View answerTuesday, 24 May 2022
Questions (236)
Written answers
Under the Government's Housing for All strategy, 10,000 Cost Rental homes will be delivered from 2021 to 2026 by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), Local Authorities and the Land Development Agency (LDA).
AHBs will be supported by Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) funding and Local Authorities will be able to avail of funding for Cost Rental delivery through the Affordable Housing Fund. The LDA will also deliver Cost Rental on its own portfolio of sites or through acquisitions under Project Tosaigh.
Under Budget 2022, €70 million was allocated to the Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) scheme for Cost Rental delivery by AHBs in 2022-2023. Approval in principle has been confirmed for approximately 900 new Cost Rental homes to be delivered in urban centres by AHBs under the CREL scheme over the period 2021-2023, with a total of almost 4,000 CREL-funded homes being targeted for delivery over the 5 years to 2026. As it is the first full year of the Cost Rental programme, pipeline projections are only being developed and numbers may increase over the year as schemes get approved.
Of this initial suite of Cost Rental homes, approximately 150 are scheduled to be delivered in Cork City in 2022 and 2023, through four different schemes. Of these, 73 Cost Rental homes are scheduled for delivery by the Clúid AHB at Lancaster Gate, Cork City, later this year. The cost-covering rents for these apartments will be at least 32% below comparable open-market prices in the area: 1 bed apartment with rent of €990 per month and 2 bed apartment at €1,100 per month.
The necessary financial and commercial arrangements in relation to the remaining Cost Rental projects are being completed by the relevant AHBs. When these arrangements have been concluded, full details of the projects, including specific locations, housing typologies and cost-covering rents, will be made public.
In relation to Cost Rental delivery by the local authority itself, this will be supported by my Department through the Affordable Housing Fund. Proposed delivery in Cork City will be underpinned by local authorities' Housing Delivery Action Plans. Local authorities submitted their initial Plans to me last December. Preparation of the Plans is allowing 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. The Plans are being revised and updated by local authorities in the light of ongoing engagement and clarifications, and I expect that they will be ready for publication by the summer. The local authority Housing Delivery Action Plans will provide a comprehensive overview of projected delivery of Cost Rental and Affordable Purchase housing by local authorities nationally.
Furthermore, LDA is working on the former HSE Site at St Kevin’s Hospital in Cork City. The LDA has secured planning permission for 265 social and affordable homes for this development and this includes over 100 cost rental units. The first homes are expected at the end of 2023/Q1 2024.
Over the period to 2030, Housing for All commits to delivering a total of 18,000 Cost Rental homes, and delivery will incrementally increase to an average of 2,000 Cost Rental homes per year.