Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 June 2022
26. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his targets for new social and affordable housing in the east Cork area for 2022; and the progress that has been made in reaching those targets to date. [32960/22]
View answerHousing for All, is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the Land Development Agency and €5bn funding through the Housing Finance Agency.
Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 47,600 new build social homes; 3,500 social homes through long-term leasing and 28,500 new affordable homes in the period 2022-2026. In September 2021, I issued social housing targets to each local authority for the period 2022-2026 and in March I issued local authority targets for affordable purchase and cost-rental. Cork County Council has a target to deliver 560 social homes and 10 affordable purchase or cost rental homes in 2022.
It is a matter for each local authority to determine the location of social and affordable housing projects, having regard to the identified need. A key action of Housing for All is that local authorities will develop and submit Housing Delivery Action Plans to include details of social and affordable housing delivery. The Plans set out details of both social and affordable housing delivery as appropriate over the period 2022 - 2026, in line with targets set under Housing for All. All local authorities submitted their Housing Delivery Action Plans to me in December and my Department is now working closely with the local authorities to review and finalise the Plans, having regard to the targets and policy objectives set out in Housing for All. The Plans will be published by local authorities before the end of Quarter 2.
My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity by all local authorities. This data is available to the end of 2021, and is published on the Local Authority Housing Scheme Statistics page of my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/. Data for Quarter 1 2022 social housing delivery is currently being collated and will be published shortly.
I would also mention that the First Home Scheme to support affordable purchases of new homes in the private market will operate nationwide. Targeted at First Time Buyers or those eligible under the Government’s ‘Fresh Start’ principle, the Scheme will be delivered via a strategic partnership between the State and participating mortgage lenders, and will be launched in the coming weeks. It will improve access to newly-built homes by using a shared equity model to bridge the gap between mortgage finance and the cost of new homes. The homes must be priced within regional price ceilings which will reflect the median prices paid by First Time Buyers for new homes in each area, so this is an intervention to support homeownership in the lower region of the market.
