Housing action plan: €5.35bn allocation for development of social housing in Ireland

A total of €5.35bn is to be allocated to the development of social housing in Ireland, under the new housing and homeless plan unveiled by the Government yesterday.

This allocation is an increase of €2.2bn on what was already committed to social housing initiatives in Ireland.

This funding is specifically going towards the aim of having 47,000 more social housing units available by 2021.

In the private sector, €200m will be put into an Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund.

This fund is aimed at opening up large sites in areas where people need homes.

This is to relieve critical infrastructural blockages to allow for the delivery of homes on key sites.

This also aims to improve the economic viability and purchaser affordability of new housing projects.

In terms of homelessness, a total of €6m will be allocated in the next budget to address the mental health needs of people caught up in the cycle of sleeping rough.

Another fund being put in place is the Housing Agency Fund, with a budget of €70m, to accelerate social housing.

This fund is specifically being used to deliver 1,600 units by 2020.

The plan says this is to complement, but not displace, ongoing purchasing activity by local authorities.

Also under the pillar of accelerating social housing is a funding to assist people living with disabilities.

A total €10m will be provided in 2016, to support community-based living for people with disabilities in congregated settings.

More funding will be made available for this objective in 2017 and 2018.

However, the amount was not specified in the housing and homeless plan.