To ask the Minister for Housing; Local Government and Heritage if the affordable housing action plan
submitted to his Department by Kilkenny County Council has been approved; if the number of houses projected
for delivery under this plan have been accepted by his Department; if not, if Kilkenny County Council has been requested to adjust the figures downwards; and if so, the reason.
REPLY
Housing for All sets out the range of actions necessary to increase the supply of housing to the required 33,000 homes, on average. per year over the next decade. 54,000 affordable home interventions will be delivered between now and 2030 to be facilitated by local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs). the Land Development Agency (LDA) and through a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.
In implementing the key objectives under Housing for All, each local authority has prepared and published a Housing Delivery Action Plan in respect of local authority supported or overseen delivery from 2022 to 2026. 18 local authorities with a strong and identified affordable housing need, including Kilkenny County Council, were asked to include assessed affordable housing need and plaimed affordable housing delivery in their Action Plans. I have also set individual five-year Affordable Housing delivery targets for those local authorities. A copy of Kilkenny County Council Housing Delivery Action Plan is available at the following link:
https://kilkennycoco.ie/eng/news/council news/kilkenny-county-council-housing-deliveryaction-plan-2022-2026.pdf
Kilkenny County Council submitted ai1 Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) application to my Department last year, seeking funding to assist in the delivery of 8 affordable purchase homes in Castle Oaks, Bregagh Valley. I approved this funding and Kilkenny County Council has advised my Department that these affordable purchases homes will be available for purchase in the second quarter of 2023. Assistance with developing any further affordable purchase schemes is available from my Department, the Housing Agency and the Housing Delivery Co-ordination Office within the Local Government Management Association.
Local authorities have been begun collating information on delivery of affordable homes in their area in the same manner as is currently done for social housing. It is intended that information on delivery across all delivery streams will be gathered by my Department and I expect that my Department will be in a position to begin reporting on affordable delivery in national quarterly delivery statistics shortly.
Finally, the First Home Scheme, launched in July 2022, supports first-time buyers in purchasing new houses and apartments in the private market through the use of an equity share model, similar to that employed in the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme.
The Scheme aims to support in the region of 8,000 households in acquiring new homes in the private market in the years 2022 to 2026 with an overall budget of €400 million. The scheme is available nationwide and more inormation can be found at www.firsthomescheme.ie