Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2018
945. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the details of the serviced sites fund for affordable housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30730/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have recently invited applications, under the Serviced Sites Fund, from a number of local authorities to support the provision of key enabling infrastructure on their land, to get their sites ready for affordable housing.
Given that funding for housing-related infrastructure can now be sought under the €2 billion Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, I have re-directed the €50 million funding, originally earmarked for a further call under the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund, to the Serviced Sites Fund, increasing the scale of the Fund from the previously announced €25 million to €75 million. When local authority co-funding is included, an overall minimum investment of €100 million will be available to offset the costs of providing both on-site and off-site enabling infrastructure for sites in order for them to be brought into use for affordable housing.
The Serviced Sites Fund is being targeted, in the first instance, to areas where increasing house prices and rents have created a significant affordability gap for first-time buyers and for those who wish to rent: Dublin; Cork; Galway; Meath, Kildare, Louth and Wicklow.
As regards the affordable homes to be delivered as a result, they will either be made available under affordable purchase or cost rental. In this regard, I have recently commenced the relevant provisions of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, the effect of which is to place the new scheme for affordable purchase on a statutory footing. My Department, in consultation with the Housing Agency and the local government sector, is currently finalising the associated regulations and guidance. It is envisaged that the delivery and allocation of affordable homes, funded under the SSF, will be administered under the provisions of the 2009 Act.
The ambition of local authorities should not be limited to affordable purchase, however. Recognising that it is often those households renting in the main urban areas that face the greatest affordability challenge, the development of a viable cost rental sector is a key Government objective. A cost rental model is being developed by my Department, the Housing Agency, relevant local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies in the context of a number of pilot cost rental projects, and the findings and outcomes of this model will provide the template to develop further projects at scale.
