New housing targets agreed by coalition leaders

An average of 54,000 homes per year to be delivered to 2040

New housing targets have been agreed by the coalition leaders just days before the end of the current Dáil.

New housing targets have been agreed by the coalition leaders just days before the end of the current Dáil, after the Housing Minister previously cast doubt on whether they would be released before the general election.

At the leaders meeting on Monday, it was agreed that an average of 54,000 homes per year would be delivered to 2040 and Darragh O'Brien will bring the revised draft of the National Planning Framework to Cabinet on Tuesday.

The new framework provides a pathway that would see 303,000 homes delivered between 2025 and 2030 with an annual average of 60,000 from 2030.

The housing targets had been a source of conflict within the coalition and this decision is seen as a climb down for the Tánaiste.

A senior Fine Gael source said they "were not sure why Micheál Martin didn't seem to want them agreed before the election".

Taoiseach Simon Harris had been pushing for the revised targets for the next five years to be decided but last week Mr O'Brien would not be drawn on when a decision would be reached.

Mr O’Brien said that work is still ongoing on revised housing targets for the remainder of the decade.

He had cited the new national planning framework, which is yet to be completed, as an important factor in setting out the targets.

Mr O’Brien said that it was “only right and fair” that people can understand how the government would deliver on any new housing targets.

The minister added that parties would set out their housing priorities in their election manifestos.