Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2017
712. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if he will roll out programmes which will disincentivise property investors from purchasing houses and ensure precedence is given to first-time buyers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42558/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraA key priority for Government is to accelerate and increase the supply of new homes across all forms of housing, social housing, private market purchase and homes to rent. "Rebuilding Ireland – Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness" sets out ambitious targets to, inter alia, double the annual level of new homes built to 25,000 by 2020 and to deliver an additional 47,000 social housing homes. The plan also seeks to optimise the existing housing stock and to lay the foundations for a more vibrant and responsive private rented sector.
Just over one year into the plan, all of the key statistical indicators point to a significant scaling up of home building activity, with:
- Planning permissions granted for 19,246 new homes in the 12 months to the end of June 2017, an increase of 49% year on year;
- Commencement notices for 16,945 new homes notified to local authorities in the 12 months to the end August 2017, an increase of 47% year on year; and
- ESB residential connections of 17,651 to the end of August 2017, an increase of 25% year on year.
Preliminary figures from the Central Statistics Office's Quarterly Survey of Production for Q2 2017 show that the residential construction sector has grown by 20.5% in volume terms and 22.7% in value terms over the previous 12 months.
Specifically in terms of first-time buyers, the volume of mortgage drawdowns in the 12 months to the end of June 2017 has increased by 17%. The Help-to-Buy initiative for first-time buyers, introduced by the Minister for Finance in October 2016, continues to assist first-time buyers in obtaining the deposit required to purchase or self-build a new home. The incentive provides for a refund of up to €20,000 in Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax, DIRT, paid over the previous four tax years to first-time buyers.
Housing affordability has been examined across a range of interconnected policy areas in the context of the ongoing focused review of Rebuilding Ireland. A number of new and enhanced actions in this area have already been announced, and I expect to make further announcements in the coming weeks as this work is finalised.
