According to the latest statistics for Quarter 2 2024, a total of 1,681 new social homes were delivered by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs). This brings the total number of new social homes delivered in the first six months of 2024 to 2,401, representing a 5% increase compared to the same period last year.
While the progress made in the first half of the year is positive, the Minister noted that the full impact of the Housing for All plan will become more apparent later in the year. Historically, the majority of social housing construction takes place in the second half of the year, with the fourth quarter being particularly productive.
The Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage has also published the Construction Status Report (CSR) for Q2 2024. The CSR provides detailed information on new-build social housing projects at various stages of development. As of Quarter 2, there were 27,097 social homes currently under construction or in the design and tender stages. Additionally, 212 new construction schemes, totalling 2,947 homes, were added to the pipeline during the quarter.
The Minister emphasized the government's commitment to delivering affordable housing and ensuring that everyone has access to a safe and secure place to live.
Minister for Housing, Darragh O'Brien welcomed the publication of the social housing delivery statistics: "The figures published today clearly show the scale of construction activity in the social housing sector. Halfway through the year, we are ahead of last year's output for the same period which keeps us on track to exceed 2023's delivery for new social homes which itself was the highest since the mid-1970s.
"I am also hugely encouraged to see that there are 27,079 new-build social homes at various stages of development and I know that when completed these homes will be transformative for the lives of the families and individuals who will call them home."
Along with new builds, when the Housing Assistance Payment (2,131) and Rental Accommodation Scheme (472) are added, a total of 4,284 new housing supports were delivered in Q2 of this year.
• Affordable Housing
Between April and June of 2024, over 1,600 affordable housing supports have been delivered via Approved Housing Bodies, Local Authorities, the LDA, the Cost Rental Tenant-in-Situ (CRTiS) scheme, the First Home Scheme, and through the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant.
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In the first half of 2024, a total of 2,669 affordable housing options were delivered. This is more than double (106% increase) the 1,294 delivered in first six months of last year, with a continued strong performance in the second half of the year anticipated, we are on track to meet this year's delivery target of 6,400 affordable housing supports.
• First Home Scheme
The popularity of the First Home Scheme as a key support for first-time buyers has continued. Over 4,800 First Home Scheme approvals have issued since its launch in July 2022. Over 850 approvals were issued in Q2 2024, surpassing last quarter's highest ever quarterly approval rate.
• Affordable Purchase Homes
The second quarter of this year saw further increase in the delivery of local authority affordable purchase homes. Since the launch of Housing for All, close to 1,000 of these homes have been provided.
This affordable purchase delivery pipeline continues to grow with over 3,100 affordable purchase homes approved for support from the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) across 21 local authority areas.
Affordable purchase homes have been advertised in Carlow, Clare, Cork City, Cork County, Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, Galway County, Kilkenny, Meath, Laois, Limerick, South Dublin, Waterford, Westmeath and Wicklow.
• Cost Rental Homes
As with affordable purchase, the provision of cost rental homes was ramped up in the second quarter of this year. During Q2 alone, over 400 new cost rental homes were delivered. To date, over 2,180 cost rental homes have been delivered by AHBs, local authorities, the LDA and through the Cost Rental in Situ (CRTiS) scheme.
In terms of AHB delivery, funding has been approved under the Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) to assist in the delivery of approximately 3,600 cost rental homes across 14 local authority areas.
There is a further pipeline of over 1,200 local authority cost rental homes, supported by the AHF, (including 50 homes already delivered at Enniskerry Road and 22 homes at Ballynanesagh, Waterford) across 14 projects.
In addition, to support households at risk of homelessness, 171 bids have been accepted as part of the CRTiS scheme to end of Q2 2024 since the scheme was launched in April 2023.
• Land Development Agency
In Q2 2024, over 260 LDA cost rental homes were made available in Hansfield, Fingal and Cookstown, Tallaght. This delivery demonstrates the progress made by the LDA in progressing affordable and social housing delivery through their market engagement initiative, Project Tosaigh.
The LDA made further progress advancing affordable and social housing delivery through Project Tosaigh with the establishment of a framework panel consisting of 15 of Ireland's largest and most experienced homebuilders to accelerate the delivery of affordable homes. Under both Project Tosaigh delivery streams, the LDA is targeting 8,000 homes by 2028 and is currently on track to deliver 5,000 of these homes by end 2026.
There is also a very strong pipeline in place of homes being delivered on State lands and in partnership with local authorities with projects such as the recently launched Shanganagh Castle Estate in South Dublin which will deliver almost 600 homes in the largest public housing development in decades.
• Vacancy
The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, introduced in July 2022, is part of a range of initiatives to address vacancy and make bringing existing properties back into use more affordable.
Since its launch to end of Q2 2024, over 5,400 applications have been approved for the grant, with a total of 484 grants paid out to successful applicants following completion of refurbishment work.
The level of grant drawdowns is beginning to ramp up, with drawdowns increasing by almost 50% in Q2 when compared to Q1 2024. This level of activity is expected to continue, with the number of drawdowns anticipated to increase very significantly over the coming quarters.
Commenting on the progress already made on affordable delivery in 2024, Minister O'Brien said: "The significant increase in the number of affordable housing options delivered in the first half of this year demonstrates that our range of affordability initiatives are having a real impact. An impact that means more and more people are now in a realistic position to either purchase a home or secure a long-term, affordable home to rent.
"Our suite of measures to address the affordability challenges many people are facing have been both popular and effective. Applications to the schemes are increasing and research indicates high satisfaction levels among those who have accessed them.
"This is why in the recent budget, this Government pledged an unprecedented €2.3bn in affordability investment in 2025 to support the initiatives we have put in place. This will further increase the availability of affordable homes to buy and rent, providing long-term, securable homes as well as building vibrant, liveable communities."
