Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 April 2022
302. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will report on the Housing for All objective for an average of 2,000 new cost rental homes each year with rents targeted at least 25% below market level. [17530/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraCost Rental represents a new tenure option, targeted at those people within the middle-income cohort, who do not quality for social housing but who are facing affordability pressures on the private rental market. The pipeline for Cost Rental delivery is being developed and delivery is expected to increase incrementally over the period to 2030, with the target of an average of 2,000 Cost Rental homes per year or 18,000 in total.
The introduction of Cost Rental will provide a more affordable and more secure form of long-term rental housing in Ireland. Rent levels for Cost Rental tenancies are based on the cost of the provision of homes, rather than being subject to market driven movement.
Once tenanted, rents will increase only in line with consumer inflation, remaining stable in real terms, while continuing to cover management and maintenance costs for the properties. Cost Rental schemes delivered by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) and local authorities will target cost-covering rents of at least 25% below comparable open market rates.
Under Housing for All, 10,000 Cost Rental homes will be delivered from 2021 to 2026 by AHBs, supported by Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) funding, along with funding for Local Authorities through the Affordable Housing Fund. The Land Development Agency will also deliver Cost Rental, either on its own portfolio of sites or through acquisitions under Project Tosaigh.
A Housing Delivery Action Plan prepared by each Local Authority will underpin delivery of cost rental homes to 2026. Each local authority submitted the first iteration of their plans in December and my officials have now met with each and the final Delivery Action Plans are expected to be published in Q2.
To date, funding support has been provided to deliver almost 900 Cost Rental homes. The first 65 Cost Rental homes were tenanted by the Clúid AHB in 2021, with 25 at Taylor Hill in Balbriggan and a further 40 at Barnhall Meadows in Leixlip, with funding from the CREL scheme covering up to 30% of the capital costs in each of the two developments. Both developments also delivered cost-covering rents at least 40% below comparable open market prices.
The tenanting process is currently underway for a further 44 new Cost Rental homes at the Parklands development in Citywest, also supported by CREL funding and being delivered by the Tuath AHB. Projected rents are €1,264 per month for two-bedroom apartments and €1,297 per month for two-bedroom duplexes. Tenants have been moving into a further 50 Cost Rental homes since the 14th of March 2022 at Enniskerry Road, Stepaside. These Cost Rental homes were delivered by the Tuath and Respond AHBs, in collaboration with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. The cost-covering rent for these two-bedroom apartments is €1,200 per month, which represents a very significant discount on market prices in the area (c. €2,000).
