The Government will publish its revised housing targets for next year and the years ahead in the coming weeks, the housing minister has said.
Darragh O’Brien said he has asked for additional capital from Minister for Finance Jack Chambers, to allow his department to reach its housing targets to the end of the decade.
The Fianna Fáil minister said that €14 billion will be spent on housing this year alone, with five billion euro from the State, and the remainder from private sources.
The revised housing targets, which will be published after next week’s Budget, will include new targets for social, affordable, rental and private ownership homes.
🏡 Another opening this morning with the launch of 5 new homes delivered in Monastery Court #Lusk by @Fingalcoco with support from @DeptHousingIRL through #HousingforAll pic.twitter.com/FHgAhucRZB
Advertisement— Darragh O'Brien (@DarraghOBrienTD) September 27, 2024
Data from the National Planning Framework, the Housing Commission and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) will feed into the new targets.
ESRI previously said that the housing demand is projected to be approximately 44,000 per year until 2030, but that projections of housing demand are “very sensitive” to assumption regarding migration.
Speaking at the official opening of a housing development for older people in Lusk on Friday, Mr O’Brien said he is negotiating his department’s budget for the year ahead.
He added: “The one good thing with Housing for All is that we’ve our capital agreed on a multi-annual basis.
“We’ll be seeking additional capital for next year and I’m working with Minister (for Finance Jack) Chambers and indeed Minister (for Public Expenditure Paschal) Donohoe in that regard.
“The discussions have been going well so far, but it goes without saying, as you continue to increase housing output, you need to pay for it.
“You need more capital on the state side, but we also need more capital from private sources too.
“This year, I’d expect that overall on housing, about €14 billion will be invested.
“Just over five billion by the State, which is the highest amount that we’ve ever invested in housing by any government. But then where’s the other nine billion coming from? That comes from private sources.
“We need to ensure, as well, that we have line of sight on that financing. That’s why things like the Finance Bill are so important as well, that we get that passed in early October, the largest reform of our planning legislation, at least since 2000, and many would argue since 1963.
“Obviously, the budget next week will be important for all of us, for the country, that we’ve a fair and a progressive budget, a budget that supports those who need our assistance the most, supports enterprise, supports jobs, and can remove and reduce further the burden on our middle income families and middle income workers.”
Mr O’Brien also said the State’s schemes to help people become homeowners is always kept under review.
On Thursday, his government colleague, Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman, said the Help to Buy scheme should be reviewed, after a party TD said the policy may have a “link” to rising house prices.
The scheme is designed to help first-time buyers purchase a newly built house or apartment as well as one-off self-build homes.
It offers a tax rebate of up to €30,000. However, opposition parties have claimed that the scheme has an inflationary effect on house prices.
A financial stability note from the Central Bank found that average users of the scheme tend to be higher-income borrowers who buy larger, more expensive homes.
Mr O’Brien said the Central’s Bank recent report also said that there is no evidence the scheme is inflationary.
He said: “The scheme is always kept under review. We reviewed the scheme two years ago. I pushed, and my party pushed, to increase the grant from 20,000 to 30,000, which we did, the grant is now extended into the end of 2025.
“I would like to see that extended further, and to extend the grant further to provide certainty to those people out there who, right now, are saving and are saving for their home.
“I think the State should continue to assist people in making the biggest purchase that they’re going to make.
“I believe in home ownership, I’ve always supported it. I believe it’s an honest and just aspiration for people to have.”
