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For Written Answer on : 17/05/2022
Question Number(s): 298 Question Reference(s): 24371/22
Department: Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Asked by: David Stanton T.D.
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QUESTION


To ask the Minister for Housing; Local Government and Heritage his Department’s targets for new affordable housing provision in each local authority area; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY


Exchequer investment from the National Development Plan, together with Housing Finance Agency lending and Land Development Agency (LDA) investment will mean that through the National Development Plan the Government is committed to investing over €4 bn per annum housing measures between 2021 and 2025. This funding commitment underpins the Government’s ‘Housing for All’ Plan, which commits to more than 9,500 new-build social homes, 4,000 affordable purchase homes and 2,000 Cost Rental homes per year up to 2030, to be delivered across a number of funding mechanisms.

National affordable housing delivery targets were published in Housing for All for 2022 – 2030. Overall targets to 2030 include 54,000 affordable housing units; 36,000 of which will be affordable purchase homes, with the remaining 18,000 to be cost rental units.

From 2022 to 2026, over 28,000 affordable homes are targeted for delivery across all local authority areas.

Within the above figures, targets have been set for overall delivery by the LDA and Approved Housing Bodies. Additional delivery is also projected through Part V, the First Home Scheme and by Local Authorities delivering on their own lands or via advance purchase.  

While all Local Authorities are encouraged to bring forward affordable schemes where they are needed, specific targets have been allocated to 18 local authorities to bring forward delivery in addition to LDA, AHB or Part V delivery in their area. These authorities are those where the need for affordable housing is a significant proportion of overall housing need, as per the table below.

In addition to the targeted local authority delivery, affordable purchase and Cost Rental homes will also be made available by AHBs and the LDA as part of the overall affordable housing delivery commitment under ‘Housing For All’.  

The delivery targets, for local authority arranged delivery only, for each of the local authorities concerned are shown in this table below:

  Housing for All
  Local Authority Affordable Housing Delivery Targets from LA Lands or Advance Purchase
  2022 – 2026  
Total
Carlow County Council38
Cork City Council378
Cork County Council189
Dublin City Council2114
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County   Council1,057
Fingal County Council981
Galway City Council151
Galway County Council226
Kildare County Council226
Kilkenny County Council76
Laois County Council38
Limerick City and County   Council264
Louth County Council226
Meath County Council151
South Dublin County Council1,133
Waterford City and County   Council76
Westmeath County Council76
Wicklow County Council151
TOTAL7,550

Where local authorities without affordable housing targets have localised affordability challenges in key towns, they can apply to my Department for funding to develop affordable housing schemes where they can demonstrate that an affordable scheme is needed to address those localised affordability challenges and they can meet the criteria for the Affordable Housing Fund.