Respond, an Irish construction-led Approved Housing Body and service provider, will have a record 4,000 new social and cost rental homes under construction by the end of 2024.
This milestone represents a threefold increase in its home building programme over the past year.
Respond said it currently has 2,925 new social and cost rental homes in development at 21 sites across the country under its €1.2 billion construction programme.
The housing body said it is "strongly committed" to increasing the national housing stock; this means buying the land, funding the construction at every stage with in-house experts to oversee the construction process, ensuring both quality and cost control.
Respond’s construction-led home building model, which sees it buy sites outright and finance construction through Fixed Price Contracts, enables a saving of, on average, €65,000 in the construction of each home.
This means there is the potential for a saving of €260 million on the construction of the 4,000 homes, compared to a housing acquisition model.
Its projects are managed through staged payments verified by independent Quantity Surveyors which helps to manage both cost and quality, delivering value for money for the State.
The announcement was made as Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O'Brien TD, launched Respond’s 2023 Annual Report.
Commenting at the launch of the 2023 Annual Report, Respond spokesperson Niamh Randall said: “Our unique construction-led model provides a blueprint for cost-effective, consistent delivery of large-scale mixed tenure homes, incorporating both social and cost rental homes.
"We are building inclusive, long-term sustainable communities, with our developments placed close to amenities including schools and parks, public transport routes and commercial centres.
"Each development follows our evidence informed Housing Services Delivery model and includes community hubs, and often several of the additional community services we also provide, including Early Learning and School Age Care services, and services for older people, readily accessible for families.”
Welcoming Respond’s progress, Minister for Housing, Darragh O'Brien TD, said: “I would like to commend Respond’s work in supporting families across the country, both in terms of delivering new homes and the essential community support services it provides.
"Through the hard work of Approved Housing Bodies like Respond, our social and cost rental housing supply is increasing and we are going in the right direction in meeting the demand for affordable housing.
"Under Housing for All, supply is increasing and will continue to do so through the hard work of our AHB partners such as Respond and our Local Authorities working in conjunction with my department.”
