Housing 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.
Following the publication of the Housing for All, each local authority was required to produce a Housing Delivery Action Plan. The Plans include details of planned delivery of social and affordable housing for the period 2022-2026, including the locations at settlement level. The Plans also included details of the proposed delivery streams for housing, land available to deliver housing, and land acquisition requirements. Moreover, my Department is also committed to supporting increased construction by Approved Housing Bodies and the Land Acquisition Fund will support the acquisition of land by local authorities for AHB construction projects. In this regard, my Department does not hold details of the land requirement in hectares and there are no plans to publish details of land requirements at the national level. Details of the land requirements at local authority level are available in the Housing Delivery Action Plans published on local authority websites.
To support local authorities to acquire land to deliver new build social housing schemes, I established the Housing for All Land Acquisition Fund in 2022. The Housing Agency is responsible for the operational arrangements and an initial allocation of €125m was provided to the Fund. A circular has issued to all local authorities inviting them to submit applications to the Housing Agency. An initial round of assessments will be held on applications submitted prior to 5 May with further assessment on a monthly basis thereafter. The allocation of additional capital to the Fund will be kept under review, subject to demand from local authorities.
