Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 July 2023
51. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage how many of the promised 1,850 cost rental homes with State-backed rent of at least 25% below what they would be on in the private market, for 2023, have thus far been delivered [32084/23]
View answer71. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for a report on the cost-rental scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33187/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 51 and 71 together.
Housing for All commits to delivering a total of 18,000 Cost Rental homes over the period to 2030, and significant funding is being made available to support provision by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), Local Authorities, and by the Land Development Agency (LDA).
Delivery will increase incrementally to an average of 2,000 Cost Rental homes per year, and 10,000 Cost Rental homes will be delivered from 2021 to 2026. AHBs are supported by Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) funding and Local Authorities will be able to avail of funding through the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF). The LDA will also deliver Cost Rental on its own portfolio of sites, or through acquisitions under Project Tosaigh.
Cost Rental was introduced through the Affordable Housing Act 2021. Cost Rental is targeted to deliver starting rents at least 25% below comparable market level and at households who cannot afford to purchase or rent their own home on the open market. Cost Rental provides tenants with secure tenancies in sustainable, long-term homes. Under the Cost Rental model, rents for homes are set to cover only the cost of financing, building, managing and maintaining the homes. Importantly, one of the conditions of this scheme is that households must have net income (i.e. the level of income after tax) of less than €53,000.
The very first Cost Rental homes in Ireland were delivered in 2021, and 2022 saw significant acceleration of delivery by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), supported by the Cost Rental Equity Loan, and the first Cost Rental homes delivered via the Land Development Agency (LDA). A total of 684 new Cost Rental homes were delivered in 2022. Cost Rental Delivery is continuing this year, with a pipeline of housing delivery which is being progressively developed by Local Authorities, AHBs, and the LDA.
Local authorities have begun systematically collating information on delivery of affordable homes in their area, including delivery by AHBs and the LDA, in the same manner as is currently done for social housing delivery. Informed by returns of this data, which are currently being validated, I expect that my Department will be in a position to report the Q1 2023 affordable housing delivery shortly.
