Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 January 2023
105. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will outline his plans to accelerate the servicing of housing land in order that councils can include plans for social and affordable homes on these lands in their targets to 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3651/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraHousing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the Land Development Agency and €5bn funding through the Housing Finance Agency.A key action of Housing for All is that local authorities developed and submitted Housing Delivery Action Plans to include details of social and affordable housing delivery. The Plans set out details of both social and affordable housing delivery as appropriate over the period 2022-2026, in line with targets set under Housing for All. The Plans include details of the locations and delivery streams for social housing schemes. The Plans also include details of the land available to deliver housing projects and details of land acquisition requirements, where a local authority does not have access to sufficient serviced land in the relevant locations. To support local authorities to acquire land to deliver new build schemes, I have established a dedicated land acquisition fund to be funded and overseen by my Department and managed by the Housing Agency. This new fund will support the acquisition of land by local authorities to deliver new build projects.
In addition, the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF), has agreed housing delivery associated with 24 infrastructure projects contributing to the delivery of 16,150 homes. Construction of housing has started on a number of projects and 4,715 units were completed by September 2022.
