New measures announced to make it cheaper to build and refurbish homes

Leo Varadkar said the changes will see 29,000 homes built this year and more than 30,000 properties delivered when student accommodation and derelict houses are taken into account

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar insisted that the Government is "pulling every lever that is available to us" to increase the number of homes that are built and renovated. Picture: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

The Government has announced a range of measures to "move the dial" in delivering more housing this year.

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien is rolling out three further measures in the Housing for All Plan to make it cheaper to build and refurbish homes, speed up home building, and drive down building costs across the board.

Mr O'Brien said the waiver of development levies, which comes into force immediately, could cut an average of €12,500 off the cost of constructing a home.

The measure will cost the State around €308m over the 12 months it is in force.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar insisted that the Government is "pulling every lever that is available to us" to increase the number of homes that are built and renovated. 

He said increased grants for those bringing derelict properties into use, the scrapping of development levies, and extra financial supports for developers building cost-rental accommodation "should move the dial", especially in terms of inactivated planning permissions.

Mr Varadkar said the changes will see 29,000 homes built this year and more than 30,000 properties delivered when student accommodation and derelict houses are taken into account.

The measures include:

• Reducing the cost of construction by scrapping the development levies required to connect new homes with roads, water, and other services, and subsidising development levies, saving up to the value of €12,650 per home on average. This will cut the cost of building a home and apply for a limited time only to act as an incentive.
• Increasing the pace at which vacant and derelict properties are renovated for new housing by beefing up grants to cut the cost of restoring empty homes and making it easier to apply. The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant will be increased from €30,000 to €50,000 for vacant properties and from €50,000 to €70,000 for derelict properties, extended to cover houses built up to 2007, and will be available for properties intended for rental as well as owner-occupied.
• Government financing of the construction of affordable apartments under Cost Rental to get work started on thousands of affordable apartments to rent which have planning permission but which are not being progressed — again, a substantial subsidy for a limited time only to speed up construction. The Government has agreed to commit up to €750m via the Land Development Agency and other providers as part of this initiative to complete 4,000 to 6,000 additional affordable apartments under the Cost Rental system.