The Government agreed extra measures under the Housing for All Plan to make it cheaper to build and refurbish homes, speed up home building and drive down building costs across the board.
The new measures will build on the momentum that we’re already seeing this year with work starting on a record 7,349 homes in the first three months of 2023.
The measures comprise:
- Reducing the cost of construction: by scrapping the development levies required to connect new homes with roads, water and other services, and subsidising development levies, saving up to the value of €12,650 per home on average. This will cut the cost of building a home and apply for a limited time only to act as an incentive.
- Increasing the pace at which vacant and derelict properties are renovated for new housing: by beefing up grants to cut the cost of restoring empty homes and making it easier to apply. The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant will be increased from €30,000 to €50,000 for vacant properties and from €50,000 to €70,000 for derelict properties, extended to cover houses built up to 2007, and will be available for properties intended for rental as well as owner-occupied.
- Government financing of the construction of affordable apartments under Cost Rental: to get work started on thousands of affordable apartments to rent which have planning permission but which are not being progressed – again, a substantial subsidy for a limited time only to speed up construction. The Government has agreed to commit up to €750 million via the Land Development Agency and other providers as part of this initiative to complete 4,000 to 6,000 additional affordable apartments under the Cost Rental system.
Government has also published the Progress Report on Housing for All for the first three months of 2023, with the year off to a good start and work starting on a record number of homes in the first quarter.
Progress has also continued across a range of important measures, including continued take-up of the First Homes Scheme, LDA grant of planning permission for over 1,100 homes, additional capacity for An Bord Pleanála and €41million in capital funding approved for student accommodation. We have seen progress across a number of fundamental reforms in land management and planning, as well as the promotion of innovation in construction.
There is a strong pipeline of social and affordable housing, with over 19,000 social homes at various stages of construction and over 2,700 more affordable homes already approved for funding.
