The Government is to provide €250 million to support the extension of a waiver scheme which gave a significant boost to housing.
The scheme was introduced in April 2023. It waived development fees charged by local authorities for the cost of roads and other public infrastructure. The waiver scheme also pertains to a refund for Uisce Éireann water and waste water connection charges.
The proposed end for the waiver, which was due to occur in December this year, was widely blamed for a large fall-off in housing construction. It was extended in April last year to December 2026.
The money allocated to the waiver scheme is part of an allocation of €696 million announced by the Cabinet last week for housing.
RM Block
Some €184 million is being allocated for social housing, with €100 million to approved housing bodies and €84 million provided to local authorities to support their construction of new social housing.
A further €114 million will be directed to Approved Housing Bodies under the Cost Rental Equity Loan scheme. Another €14 million is being allocated for private sector cost-rental development under the Secure Tenancy Affordable Rental scheme.
An additional €38 million is being provided for the vacant property refurbishment grant, which has led to almost 2,900 vacant and derelict properties being brought back into use.
Local authorities are being given €50 million for second-hand acquisitions through the tenant in situ scheme. This allows local authorities to purchase privately owned homes where tenants are at risk of eviction, ensuring they can remain in their homes as social housing tenants.
Some €60 million will go to the Enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme. This will allow homeowners remediate properties damaged by defective concrete blocks.
Minister for Housing James Browne said the funding will deliver 4,600 new social and affordable housing units.
“In recent years, we’ve made significant progress in delivering new housing and launching schemes that have provided secure homes for thousands of individuals and families at a scale not seen since the 1970s,” he said.
“The scale of the challenge we have demands continued and intensified effort. This funding allocation is a key part of that ongoing response.”
The Government is scrambling for measures to fix the housing crisis, with the ESRI forecasting just 33,000 units to be built this year and 37,000 next year – well short of the Government’s target of 41,000 this year and 43,000 next year.
It is also well below the target of 303,000 new homes to be built by the Government between now and 2030.
