Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 November 2023
85. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of affordable homes delivered by Q3 of 2023 by local authorities, approved housing bodies and the LDA under the affordable housing fund, the cost-rental equity loan and Project Tosaigh. [49144/23]
View answerOne of the most disappointing aspects of the Minister's tenure has been his failure to deliver genuine affordable homes to rent or buy through local authorities, approved housing bodies and the Land Development Agency, LDA. As the Minister knows, of the 4,400 genuinely affordable homes to which his plan commits, halfway through this year only 123 had been delivered. I accept there is significant additional delivery in the second half of the year. Will the Minister provide an update on the total delivery of those schemes by the end of the third quarter and whether he expects to meet his target of delivering 4,400 affordable homes by year's end?
Housing for All sets out the range of actions necessary to increase the supply of housing to the required 33,000 homes on average per year over the next decade. Some 54,000 affordable homes will be delivered between now and 2030, to be facilitated by local authorities, approved housing bodies, AHBs and the Land Development Agency and through the first-home scheme, which is a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks. In the first 18 months of the new programme, over 3,000 affordable homes have been delivered through our new cost-rental schemes, the first-home scheme and the local authority affordable purchase scheme. This momentum will continue as the pipeline of affordable housing delivery is developed and expanded by our delivery partners, including local authorities, AHBs, the LDA, and the first-home scheme.
Data for affordable housing delivery are published on a quarterly basis, similar to social housing delivery. These data are published up to quarter 2 of 2023 and are available on the Department's website. Local authorities are in the process of systematically collating information on delivery of affordable purchase and cost-rental homes in their administrative areas, including returns for AHBs and the LDA for quarter 3 of 2023. This data are currently being verified and I expect the Department will be in a position to report to confirm quarter 3 2023 social, affordable purchase and cost-rental housing delivery shortly.
I thank the Minister of State. I could have got all of that information from the Department's website before we came to the Chamber. Here is the problem. In the general election, Fianna Fáil promised in its election manifesto to deliver 10,000 genuinely affordable homes every year for five years if it got into government. It promised 6,000 affordable purchase houses through the Ó Cualann model and 4,000 affordable cost-rental homes. The Minister inherited the serviced sites fund when he was appointed and not a single home was delivered from that fund in 2020 or indeed in 2021. In 2022, the Minister promised 2,000 genuinely affordable homes through local authorities and approved housing bodies and 2,000 unaffordable high-risk shared equity loan homes. He only delivered 1,000 of the first category and 137 of the second. So far this year, of the 4,400 genuinely affordable homes that have been promised, only 123 have been delivered, that is, 101 affordable purchase homes and 22 cost-rental homes. The LDA had not delivered a single affordable home halfway though the year. I would much prefer to hear from the line Minister because he is responsible for this. What I want to know is if he will meet the target of completing 4,400 genuinely affordable homes by the year's end and whether these homes will be genuinely affordable.
The target for the period up to 2030 is to complete 54,000 units. Our target for this year is to deliver 5,500 units. Last year, we delivered 1,750 units and from looking at the various aspects, the momentum is good. The local authorities have affordable homes projects for 4,300 units in total across 72 projects in 20 local authorities.
As the Deputy is aware, they have already advertised for 920 affordable homes. It is not as if they have not been delivering. They have. Last year, local authorities delivered 223 affordable purchase homes, which was two thirds of their target. They met 100% of their cost rental target. The Land Development Agency-----
We are over time and will have to come back.
The figures the Minister of State is putting in the public domain are factually incorrect. The report on the Department's website indicates that it did not deliver 1,750 affordable homes last year because, in fact, 750 of those were under the first home scheme. They were only approvals. The actual number of drawdowns was 137. The Government set a target last year of 2,000 genuinely affordable homes and delivered 1,000. This year, it has set a target of 4,400 genuinely affordable homes and only 123 were delivered halfway through the year. There is a growing concern about affordability. In my constituency, affordable purchase homes delivered through the local authority, with the affordable housing fund which the Minister of State knows we supported the legislation for, are now for sale at a total price of €400,000 to €435,000. The discounted purchase price is €300,000 to €350,000, but one ultimately still has to pay the full €400,000. How many affordable homes will the Government deliver under the scheme this year? Will they be genuinely affordable? What is on sale today in Clonburris and Clondalkin is not affordable for the vast majority of working people.
As the Deputy is aware, the local authority affordable housing fund scheme is equity based. We have made changes to that scheme in the current year. It ensures people will get a discount of at least 22% when they qualify for the help to buy scheme, which Sinn Féin opposed. Our system of people being able to purchase their own homes is not binary. Sinn Féin's system is binary. We want to ensure people can purchase privately through the first home scheme. We want local authorities to be able to fund the building of houses for affordable purchase and affordable cost rental on their own lands with the serviced sites land. The Land Development Agency has projects on the go. There are just under 1,800 cost rental homes in Project Tosaigh. It expects to meet its target of 5,000. The Deputy referred to that. We are working to ensure that we have the maximum number of affordable houses available for people across a range of schemes, including both affordable purchase and affordable cost rental. We are doing that in a way that is holistic.
