Meeting housing targets 'challenging', says Darragh O'Brien

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien said he was aiming to make 2022 a 'year of delivery' despite inflation and supply chain issues. Picture: Dan Linehan

The Government will find it "challenging" to meet its social and affordable housing targets this year, the housing minister has said.

Darragh O'Brien said that reaching the target of 4,100 cost rental homes would be achieved with "some difficulty".

Speaking at the opening of 118 homes delivered under the Government's cost rental scheme in Clondalkin, west Dublin, on Tuesday, Mr O'Brien said he was aiming to make 2022 a "year of delivery" despite inflation and supply chain issues.

"It'll be challenging, there's no question about that and particularly around inflation and supply chain, but we're still very focused on those targets for this year," said Mr O'Brien. 

"What's really important now is we're seeing another 118 cost rental homes and people are moving into those homes.

"We've had a really strong response to the First Home Scheme, which I  believe is going to be a game changer in relation to the delivery of affordable homes to purchase for people who've been locked out of that market for 10 or 12 years. 

"Coupled with that is the delivery of affordable homes through our local authorities and I want to see that speed up. But we have at least 11 schemes on site at the moment which will deliver hundreds more affordable homes in that space."

The minister said he expects the Land Development Agency to deliver its first homes this year, through Project Tosaigh, and "they will be affordable homes, too, mainly cost rental this year, but some also affordable purchase."

Tánaiste's comments

Mr O'Brien was asked about comments made by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, who said that while the Housing for All plan was working, it was not working quickly enough. Mr Varadkar said the Government may need "another go" at housing.

Mr O'Brien said that the Government will deliver the multi-year plan and would deliver on the yearly target of 24,600 new homes.

"We're going to deliver affordable homes for purchase through local authorities for the first time in a generation. We've launched the first home scheme that took two years to put together, for which we've had hundreds, literally hundreds, of applications already and our first approved. We also have contracts that have been issued.

"And we're going to build more social homes this year, even with all the issues that we've had with supply chain and inflation coming out of a pandemic of two years with two big construction shutdowns. 

"We have a target this year to deliver 24,600 new homes and I believe will attain that target."