The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme supports building 5,000 apartments for sale to owner-occupiers up to 2026. The scheme aims to bridge the current “viability gap” between the cost of building apartments and the market sale price (where the cost of building is greater). The scheme is targeted principally at activating planning permissions already in place for such homes.
The scheme launched in May 2022 with an Expressions of Interest process, which is being managed and administered by The Housing Agency on behalf of my Department. The Housing Agency is uniquely positioned to understand the needs of the Irish housing sector. The agency has a team of dedicated housing professionals with the knowledge and expertise to administer the scheme.
Since receipt of applications in June 2022, The Housing Agency has been undertaking the various appraisal stages which deal with the following:
1. Eligibility of proposals
2. Ranking of suitable proposals and
3. A detailed due diligence process leading to designation (current stage).
In May 2022, in tandem with the launch of the EOI process, a pre-notification of the scheme under Article 107 (3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union was made by my Department to the Directorate General for Competition in the European Commission (DG COMP). In the context of pre-notification contacts, on 17 June 2022, the DG COMP sent a request for information to the Department, to which a reply was given on 15 July 2022. Additional information was provided by my Department on 17 October, 12 and 16 November and 5 December 2022 as part of the pre-notification process. Following this process, on 7 December 2022 my Department formally notified the scheme to DG COMP, with additional information provided on 16 December 2022.
On 6 February 2023, my Department received notification from DG COMP that the scheme has been deemed compatible with the internal market pursuant to Article 107 (3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This positive decision enables The Housing Agency to actively progress matters on processing and concluding Stage 3 of the Scheme and will allow the building of designated apartments to get underway.
Per the Housing for All Action Plan Update (November 2022), a second call under the scheme is expected to be announced by end of Q2 2023.
