Housing for All: A New Housing Plan for Ireland, published on 2 September 2021, is the Government’s housing plan to 2030. It is a multi-annual, multibillion euro plan, which commits to increasing the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year. Over 300,000 new homes will be built by the end of 2030, including a projected 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. The Plan contains a suite of initiatives focused on increasing affordable housing options, alleviating homelessness and ensuring the houses built, are sustainable and support the objectives and key principles set out in the National Planning Framework, namely promoting compact, livable settlements.
Under Housing for All, the supply of new homes is increasing. In 2022, almost 30,000 homes were built, the most since 2008. A further 6,716 new homes were added to the national housing stock in the first quarter of 2023. 10,263 social homes were delivered in 2022. This represents the highest annual output of social homes in decades and the highest level of delivery of new-build social housing since 1975. The pipeline for continued social housing delivery is strong, with over 19,000 social homes either on site or at design and tender stage.
2022 represented the commencement of a very ambitious programme of delivery of affordable housing. 1,757 affordable homes were delivered in 2022 through Cost Rental, the First Home Scheme and the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme. This momentum will continue with delivery increasing significantly this year. A strong pipeline of affordable housing delivery is in place and under continuous development by local authorities, by Approved Housing Bodies, and by the Land Development Agency.
In addition, the First Home Scheme, which was launched in July 2022, supports first-time buyers in purchasing new houses and apartments in the private market through the use of an equity share model. 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. Full information on the scheme, including the Q1 2023 Update Report, is available on the First Home Scheme dedicated website, www.firsthomescheme.ie.
Other measures, such as the Help to Buy Scheme and the Local Authority Home Loan, are also nationally available to eligible first-time purchasers to make home ownership more affordable.
In addition, new Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant is also available nationwide and it provides for grants for refurbishment of vacant and derelict properties. I also announced last year, a new Ready to Build serviced sites scheme under the Fund where local authorities will provide sites at a discount to people who want to build their own home. Information on both of these schemes is available directly from local authorities.
Housing for All Progress Reports are published quarterly. The seventh of these reports, covering progress in Q1 2023, was published on 25 April. These reports can be accessed on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/9d2ee-housing-for-all-quarterly-progress-reports/
The Government and I remain focused on delivering Housing for All, which contains the right mix of ambition, guaranteed funding, reform, new initiatives and stability of policy to support the delivery of social and affordable housing at scale. Housing for All is a living plan with an in-built flexibility to review with the inclusion of new initiatives as needed to address the housing challenges. A copy of Housing for All and the Housing for All Action Plan Update (November 2022) can be accessed on my Department’s website at the respective links:
www.gov.ie/en/publication/ef5ec-housing-for-all-a-new-housing-plan-for-ireland/
www.gov.ie/en/publication/da0d1-action-plan-update-and-q3-2022-progress-report/
