A message from John:
Not a day goes by that I don’t hear from a person about
homeownership. It might be someone asking what hope
they have as a single person of ever owning their own
home. It could be a young couple, who are scrimping
and saving every penny or who have moved back into
the family home. It is sometimes their parents, or even
grandparents, worried that their child or grandchild is
going to have to move far away if they are to have any
chance of buying a home. Every single day, from all walks
of life, a similar story.
Housing for All is a radical and realistic plan, one which
puts in place achievable targets and time-frames, backed
by never before seen levels of funding. Through this
plan, to 2030, we will provide over 300,000 new homes.
We will deliver 36,000 affordable purchase homes for
first-time buyers and those looking for a fresh start.
For those who wish to rent we will deliver 18,000 secure
cost rental homes. For those on lower incomes, we will
deliver 90,000 homes over the lifetime of this Plan –
through the largest social housing build programme
in our history. For our most vulnerable and those on
the sharpest edge of our homelessness crisis we are
expanding our Housing First target. By 2030, we will
eradicate homelessness.
The housing system is complex. There is no silver bullet
and I cannot tell you it will be fixed overnight. We have
the solutions and the focus to make the progress we
need towards delivering a sustainable housing system
for all our people.
What Housing for All Means:
For First-Time Buyers
• The largest-ever housing budget in the history of the State to transform our housing system, with over €15.5bn in funding through the Exchequer and LDA over the next five years.
• Supporting an unprecedented 4,000 Affordable Purchase homes on average every year for families, couples, and single people
• A new Local Authority-led Affordable Purchase Scheme, targeting average prices of €250,000.
• A new ‘First Home’ Shared Equity Scheme for private developments.
• A reformed Local Authority Home Loan.
• An ‘Owner Occupier Guarantee’ in housing developments to secure homes exclusively for first-time buyers and other owner-occupiers.
• 20% of all developments set aside for affordable and social housing.
For Renters
• An average of 2,000 new Cost Rental homes every year with rents targeted at least 25% below market level.
• Extended Rent Pressure Zones to 2024 and rents linked to the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices.
• New Short-Term Lettings regulation through a Fáilte Ireland registration system.
• Indefinite tenancies to strengthen security for renters.
• Minimum Building Energy Rating standards for private rental dwellings.
• Upfront deposit and rent payments capped at two months value.
For Low-Income Households
• Provide over 90,000 social homes by 2030, including an average annual new-build component of over 9,500 units to 2026, the highest number in the history of the State.
• End long term leasing by Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies through phasing out new entrants and focus on new build to provide social housing homes
• Strengthened ‘Mortgage to Rent’ scheme, to ensure that it meets the needs of those in long-term mortgage arrears.
• Reformed Tenant Purchase Scheme.
• Revision and reform of income eligibility for social housing.
For People Experiencing Homelessness
• Work towards eradicating homelessness by 2030.
• Increased ‘Housing First’ targets to 1,200 tenancies over five years for homeless people.
• Establish a New National Homeless Action Committee.
• Expand Street Outreach Teams for rough sleepers nationwide.
• Individual Healthcare Plans
For those Trading Up and Rightsizing
• Over 300,000 new homes by 2030.
• A new national policy on rightsizing to highlight the potential of rightsizing for households that no longer fully occupy their current privately owned accommodation and exploration of options to support and incentivise rightsizing on a voluntary basis.
For People Starting again
• A ‘Fresh Start’ principle for applications to State affordable housing and loan schemes. People who are divorced and have no interest in the family home or who have undergone insolvency proceedings will be eligible to apply to those schemes.
For Communities
• Radical new modern ‘Kenny Report’ style powers to ensure sharing of the increase in land values from re-zoning decisions and greater community gain.
• Ending Strategic Housing Developments, returning planning decisions to Local Authorities and reforming the judicial review process.
• A new tax to activate vacant land for residential purposes
• Collection of data on vacancy levels with a view to introducing a new Vacant Property Tax to ensure empty
properties are used.
• An amended Fair Deal scheme to stop penalising sale and rental income.
For Towns and Cities
• A new Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Fund to increase owner-occupier apartment development in city centres.
• Increased funding capacity for the LDA for strategic development of public lands for affordable and social housing in city and town centres.
• Targeted funding via URDF and RRDF to support the Town Centre First approach, as part of the wider objectives for the regeneration of cities, towns and rural areas.
• Planning exemptions for ‘above shop’ conversions and guidance relating to protected structures.
• A nationwide Local Authority led Compulsory Purchase Order scheme to purchase vacant units.
For Rural Communities
• New County Development Plan guidance to ensure appropriate zoning and density levels.
• A new Croí Cónaithe Fund to service sites and refurbish vacant properties in regional towns and villages
• A new CPO programme to tackle vacancy in towns and villages
• New rural housing guidelines to give certainty for development of one-off homes.
For Construction Workers
• 27,000 new construction jobs to meet required annual output levels.
• Stability and certainty in the building sector through a long-term funding pipeline.
• New apprenticeship opportunities and a targeted campaign at school leavers to build up capacity in the sector.
• A new Construction Technology Centre to drive innovation and productivity in the sector.For those Trading Up and Rightsizing
• Over 300,000 new homes by 2030.
• A new national policy on rightsizing to highlight the potential of rightsizing for households that no longer fully occupy their current privately owned accommodation and exploration of options to support and incentivise rightsizing on a voluntary basis.
