Joe Flaherty
Question:30. Deputy Joe Flaherty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide an update on the provision of affordable housing for County Longford. [59537/22]
View answerThursday, 1 December 2022
Questions (30)
Written answers
Following the publication of Housing for All, I asked local authorities to prepare Housing Delivery Action Plans. In preparing these plans local authorities were asked to assess the level of housing demand with affordability constraint projected for their area based on the Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA) tool and plan their provision accordingly. Local authorities with a strong and identified affordable housing need were asked to prepare Affordable Delivery Action Plans and were set five-year Affordable Delivery Targets.
An identified high level of affordable housing need arises where the HNDA indicates that, of the total projected need for housing in the county, over 5% of new households will not qualify for social housing but will also be constrained in accessing housing by their ability to afford to buy or rent. The level of affordably constrained need across the county of Longford is assessed at below 5%, although some localised affordability issues may arise in certain towns within the county.
It will be a matter for Longford County Council to consider whether a particular requirement for affordable housing arises and whether it will bring forward specific affordable schemes to meet this need. It is possible for local authorities, including Longford County Council, to assess affordable housing need at sub-county level to determine whether a need for Government funded affordable housing schemes is evident in specific towns/areas. Affordable Housing Fund subsidy towards the provision of local authority arranged affordable housing is only available to support affordable housing purchase in schemes located in large or key towns to ensure that provision is aligned with where need is concentrated. My Department, together with the Housing Agency, are available to offer assistance to any local authority that is considering developing an affordable housing scheme.
Where particular challenges arise for facilitating owner-occupation in towns, and where viable sites available for building of new homes are in short supply, there is significant potential for local authorities to support homeownership in these areas by making available serviced sites at a reduced cost (the Ready to Build scheme) or providing support towards the refurbishment of vacant properties where the level of vacancy or dereliction is high (the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant). These Croí Cónaithe Towns schemes, which are delivered by local authorities, provide new choices to support affordable home ownership.
In addition, the First Home Scheme, launched in July this year, which supports first-time buyers in purchasing new houses and apartments in the private market through the use of an equity share model, similar to that employed in the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme. The Scheme aims to support in the region of 8,000 households in acquiring new homes in the private market in the years 2022 to 2026 with an overall budget of €400 million. The scheme is available nationwide and more information can be found at https://www.firsthomescheme.ie/.