I propose to take Questions Nos. 75 and 245 together.
Given the affordability challenge faced by renters in Dublin and other parts of the country, the Government is committed to the introduction of a not-for-profit, cost rental sector in Ireland. Together with delivering more affordable and predictable rents, cost rental will make a sustainable impact on national competitiveness and the attractiveness of our main urban centres as places to live and work.
There are currently two cost rental pilot projects being advanced in Dublin, at Enniskerry Road in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, and Emmet Road in Inchicore. The pilot projects will deliver 50 and 330 cost rental homes, respectively. The Enniskerry Road project is at a very advanced stage with the tender evaluation process currently being finalised.
The Emmet Road project is of critical importance, both as part of the Government’s cost rental programme, but more importantly to the community of Inchicore and Kilmainham. Therefore, Dublin City Council is progressing the project with a high level of consultation and engagement. In this regard, a community consultative forum, the Inchicore Regeneration Forum, with an independent Chairperson and a Forum Director, has been established, and has twenty delegates representing various members of the community, including three local City Councillors. The City Council is also currently procuring a design team to prepare an Urban Design Development Framework Plan and thereafter will procure a multi-disciplinary design team to prepare the project for the planning application stage.
More broadly, the experience gained from these projects is informing the national approach to cost rental delivery at scale. My Department is engaged with the Housing Agency, the National Development Finance Agency, the European Investment Bank and the Land Development Agency to develop the optimum funding, delivery and administrative frameworks.
In order to support local authorities in delivering affordable homes, including cost rental, €310 million is being made available from 2019 until 2021 under the Serviced Site Fund (SSF). The SSF will fund facilitating infrastructure, on local authority sites, for the provision of affordable housing. At a funding rate of €50,000 per affordable home, at least 6,200 will be facilitated in total. The Enniskerry Road project has received approval in principle for approximately €4m under the first round of allocations and a second call will issue shortly.