State lands freed up in five counties for cheaper housing

STATE lands are being made available in five counties for the completion of the Government’s current target of 10,000 affordable houses, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern announced yesterday.

And legislation is being brought before the Oireachtas to enable those purchasing affordable housing to borrow from banks and building societies.

“We are using significant State assets, in the form of land, to help those people who want to own a home but face affordability problems. This is another clear example of how we can work together to address the real concerns of ordinary people. The main objective now is to move on and get these houses built,” he said.

The release of additional State lands for the Sustaining Progress Affordable Housing Initiative will bring the total number of affordable housing units to more than 10,000, he said.

The affordable housing will be provided on lands which are being released by health boards in counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Galway and Dublin.

Last night, a spokesman for the Department of the Environment said he did not yet have a breakdown of the numbers of units which will be provided in each of the county regions.

Mr Ahern also outlined a number of other initiatives the Government was taking to address the issue of affordable housing, including the recently announced Budget measures to reduce stamp duty and increase capital funding for housing.

And he referred to a pilot project to swap State land at Harcourt Terrace in Dublin for affordable houses.

Yesterday also saw the publication of legislation to amend the clawback arrangements on affordable houses to allow the financial market to offer more attractive loans to purchasers.

This legislation, the Taoiseach said, will also open up the possibility of quicker provision of affordable houses direct from builders to house purchasers nominated by the relevant planning authorities.

According to the latest figures from the Department of the Environment, house completions at 60,858 units for the first 10 months of 2004 were up 12.7% on last year’s figure for the same period.

Minister Noel Ahern yesterday reiterated that he expected considerable growth in the output of affordable housing through the various affordable housing schemes. “About 10,000 will be delivered through these schemes in the period 2005 to 2007,” he said.