Delivery targets for social and affordable housing will be reached this year, Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has said in response to Opposition criticism of the numbers built during the first three months of the year.
It came after Mr O’Brien published social and affordable housing delivery statistics for the first quarter of 2024.
During that time, 3,270 social housing “supports” were provided, split between 720 new homes and additions to schemes such as the Housing Assistance Payment (2,175) scheme and the Rental Accommodation Scheme (375).
Just 158 of the homes were newly built. The Government’s target for newly built social homes in 2024 is 9,300.
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More than 1,000 “affordable housing supports” were delivered in the first quarter of the year, of which 32 were delivered under the local authority purchase scheme. Some 24 were cost rental. The Government’s 2024 target for new-build affordable and cost-rental homes is 6,400.
Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik highlighted the 158 newly built social homes and said: “This Government is clearly going to fail abjectly in delivering on its housing commitments.”
Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan said this is “a drop in the ocean of what is needed” and added that affordable homes delivery is “a long way off this year’s target of 6,400″.
Eoin Ó Broin of Sinn Féin conceded that construction activity accelerates in the second half of the year, but added: “the fact that less than 2 per cent of the yearly target has been delivered in the first quarter is deeply worrying.”
Mr O’Brien said the Opposition will “know that 83 per cent of our housing delivery [in 2023] came in the last two quarters of last year” and construction is “heavily weighted towards the last quarter”.
He said: “we will hit our social housing targets this year and we will also hit our increased affordable housing targets. We have over 26,000 social homes at various different stages of construction”.
He said that, under the Government, affordable housing delivery went from “zero” to 4,011 last year and it will be “over 6,000 this year”.
The Cabinet was updated on progress in the Housing for All plan which has an overall target of 33,450 new builds including private homes for 2024. It was one of seven memos on housing considered by ministers at the meeting.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said almost 52,000 new homes have commenced construction in the 12 months to the end of May and added that he is confident the target for 2024 will be exceeded.
He said it represents “good progress” and it “provides a good platform from which we can further scale up our delivery to meet future demand”.
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