Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 April 2023
330. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of HAP and RAS tenancies respectively targeted for delivery by Cork City Council in each of the years 2022-2026, in tabular form. [19304/23]
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. Over 300,000 new homes will be built by the end of 2030, including a projected 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. The strategy will focus strongly on new builds, and in particular local authority led new build activity.
While specific targets for the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and the Rented Accommodation Scheme (RAS) are not set under Housing for All, the plan does commit to continuing supports under these schemes while social housing stock is increased. However, as the numbers of new build social homes increases under Housing for All, there will be a reduced reliance on HAP and RAS.
Budget 2023 allocated €544 million in Exchequer funding for the HAP scheme and €113 million for RAS. This level of funding will allow for the continued support of existing HAP households (59,258 at end 2022) and also enable a further projected 8,800 households to be supported by HAP in 2023. The RAS funding will also allow for the continued support of existing RAS households (16,653 at end 2022) with a further 800 transfers from Rent Supplement expected in 2023.
My Department publishes comprehensive programme-level statistics on social housing delivery activity, including HAP and RAS in all local authority areas on the statistics page of its website at the following link - www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/
