Loan approvals at the State-backed lender Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI) doubled in the first six months of the year, rising to €398 million as demand continued to grow. That brings total approvals to €2.1 billion since it was established in 2019, with funding approved for 11,200 homes across 162 developments.
“An increase of this size reflects the really strong and sustained demand for new homes and the significant appetite among small, medium and large house building companies to meet that demand if they can get the finance they need,” said HBFI chief executive Dara Deering.
“We’re now in our sixth year in business, and we’re made a significant contribution to accelerating housing supply by approving funding for over 11,000 new homes in 23 counties across Ireland.”
HBFI, which was set up by the Government to fund new homes, said €1.32 billion had been drawn down to date, with an expected time lag of between three and six months between initial approvals and drawdowns. Loans range between €1 million and €108 million for a period of 22 months, with an average of €13 million.
The data showed houses made up 66 per cent of approvals, with apartments at 34 per cent. Almost 6,000 homes have been sold, contracted for sale or sale agreed, with 48 per cent of those going to owner-occupiers and 38 per cent set aside for social or affordable housing.
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