Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 April 2023
738. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount that was spent on the affordable rental scheme in the 2022 calendar year; if he would provide the locations where this scheme is active; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16751/23]
View answerHousing for All delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to step up housing supply and put affordability at the heart of the housing system, with an ambitious target of 300,000 homes by 2030 for social, affordable and cost rental, private rental and private ownership housing. As part of this plan, 18,000 Cost Rental homes will be delivered between now and 2030, to be facilitated by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), local authorities, and the Land Development Agency (LDA).
AHBs are supported by Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) funding, and local authorities are able to avail of funding for Cost Rental delivery through the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF). The LDA is also delivering Cost Rental on its own portfolio of sites and through acquisitions under Project Tosaigh.
2022 saw a significant increase in the delivery of homes in this entirely new form of tenure, with AHBs delivering the majority of these homes. A total of €50.8 million was spent under CREL in 2022, which allowed for the delivery of eleven developments across four counties: Dublin, Cork, Kildare, and Meath.
In addition to homes funded through the CREL scheme, Cost Rental homes are also being developed by local authorities. The central Exchequer funding through the AHF will help to facilitate a local authority-led financing structure for Cost Rental, which will provide important opportunities for local authorities to directly deliver Cost Rental homes on their own lands, such as at the Emmet Road scheme in Dublin City.
In respect of the LDA, details of the housing projects that the LDA is progressing on public lands that will deliver affordable purchase and Cost Rental homes can be found on the LDA’s website at: lda.ie/projects-schemes/
The LDA is also delivering Cost Rental under Project Tosaigh, which is a market engagement initiative to unlock land with full planning permission that is not being developed by private sector owners. Homes have been advertised so far in South Dublin and Wicklow. Full details of the initiative can be found on the LDA’s website at: lda.ie/affordable-homes/lda-cost-rental
2022 represented the first year of a very ambitious programme of delivery of affordable housing. This momentum will continue with delivery stepping up this year. A pipeline of housing delivery is in place and under continuous development by local authorities, AHBs and the LDA. Data on delivery across all affordable housing streams during 2022 is available on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/#affordable-housing-delivery.
