2026-01-22

144. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures he is taking to address the lack of affordable housing in County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3349/26]

Affordability and the chance to own a home is at the heart of the Government’s housing policy, as embodied within the new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities. The new plan reinforces and expands the range of existing measures being implemented by the Government to tackle the issues of supply and affordability, thereby supporting the increased provision of new homes to purchase and rent. As outlined in Delivering Homes, Building Communities, all local authorities will be required to prepare a new housing delivery action plan, which will identify affordable housing needs within their areas and set out how this will be met. These new housing delivery action plans will build upon the almost 19,000 affordable housing solutions that have been delivered since the launch of Housing for All. Over 1,000 affordable housing supports have been delivered in Meath to date, primarily via the local authority affordable purchase scheme, the first home scheme, the vacant properties refurbishment grant, the cost-rental equity loan and the cost-rental tenant in situ scheme. To date, Meath County Council has received funding approval to deliver 226 affordable starter homes for purchase across 12 schemes, supported by the affordable housing fund, out to the end of 2027. By the end of quarter 3 of last year, 77 of these homes had been delivered. A further four schemes are under assessment, with the potential to deliver an additional 20 affordable starter homes for purchase. In addition, six approved housing body projects have been approved to date under the cost-rental equity loan scheme in County Meath, with 76 cost-rental homes delivered to date and a further 156 to be delivered by the end of this year. To further support the development of Meath’s affordable housing programme, my Department is funding five additional administrative and technical staffing posts dedicated to affordable housing delivery. Scheme criteria and support levels for affordable purchase schemes are kept under regular review, taking account of developments in the housing market. Further to this, my Department will continue to engage with all delivery partners to further develop affordable starter homes delivery and to ensure that the starter homes programme addresses demand identified at a local level.

Affordability is the single biggest housing issue in County Meath. So many people who are working are above the social housing threshold but they cannot get a mortgage. The numbers the Minister talks about are nowhere near enough. In addition, they are not affordable. I can give the example of Foxwood Park in Kells that is about to come on stream. I am sure they are fine houses and the people who get them will be absolutely delighted to have them but they are far too expensive. They are not affordable. They are advertised as three-bedroom terraced houses with a minimum purchase price of €322,500 but with an asterisk on it. The asterisk is doing a huge amount of work because the actual price that someone will pay to buy and own that property is €405,000. That is simply not affordable. Does the Minister agree?

In my constituency of Galway East, not one affordable home has been delivered in towns like Athenry, Tuam and Loughrea. Rents have increased massively, and so have house prices. Young families come to me all the time asking what their options are and if affordable housing might be an option for them but it does not exist in our local area. We are in the middle of a housing emergency and that has been the case for a decade or more at this stage. It is a shocking indictment of the Government's housing policy that it has completely failed to deliver any affordable housing for my constituents. We have talked about some schemes being delivered in the coming years but nowhere near the scale at which it is needed. The big question is whether these homes are going to be genuinely affordable for people. What does the Minister have to say to those families in my constituency? When are we finally going to see affordable housing delivered at scale in east Galway?

I thank the Deputies very much for their questions. Affordability is at the very heart of what I do. That is why we have so many schemes to help people to make homes more affordable for them, while also driving the delivery of social and affordable housing through our local authorities, and through schemes led by the Land Development Agency. In both of those counties we have seen a significant delivery of homes but we want to see more delivery. I have been to both of those counties on numerous occasions. We have seen a significant uptick in the delivery of homes there. It is all about supply. The way we get control of rent prices and house prices is through increasing the supply. Our approach is to put in as many schemes as possible, and to try to make houses as affordable as possible, while also addressing viability so that we can drive on the supply as well. We need the homes. We need to significantly increase the number of homes right across the country as well as in Meath and Galway East. I am sure the Deputy will agree that right across Galway East there are now significant housing schemes going on but I want to see even more. I have been up there on a number of occasions and I will be going back to Galway. I encourage the local authorities to drive on with these schemes as well. It is really important that they work with the Department of housing to get more of these schemes off the ground.

Could I specifically raise the issue this time round in relation to the design of the scheme? The question specifically relates to the redemption and realisation of the council equity. I do not think people are aware of the fact that there is a premium on the council equity. If it is 10% on a house costing €405,000 today, the percentage relates to the current market value. If I am in that property for 30 years and I am looking to draw down on the council equity, if the property is worth €450,000 or €500,000, I am required to pay 10% of the current market value at that stage, and I have to pay in lump sums of a minimum of €10,000. They are very significant issues. It is a cruel aspect of this scheme. It is a premium on the council's equity. I do not think people are aware of that fact. Why did the Minister design the scheme in that way? Does he acknowledge that it is an unfair premium?

With regard to affordable housing, while there is a need for more to be done, I welcome the fact that the Minister was in Gorey last Friday where a very successful affordable housing scheme of 20 homes was launched. The families were very satisfied. I was delighted that the Sinn Féin Deputy was present. Even though he opposed many of the Government's measures in this regard, he had no problem hopping into all the photographs with the Minister and I on Friday.

He supported the legislation on this scheme.

The challenge in this regard is to get far more of these affordable homes schemes going. I urge him to expedite the schemes that are coming into him from Wicklow and Wexford County Councils because we need them as quickly as possible.

Every scheme is always kept under review. We have multiple schemes now for helping people to be able to get their home and to make schemes affordable. We always keep schemes under review and where we think we can make them more effective, we always do so. It is important that these schemes exist, and that people are aware of them and use them. As Deputy Byrne mentioned, we have some very successful affordable housing schemes, and we want to see even more of them. Again, it is up to the local authorities to make sure that they are driving these schemes as well and doing more because we as a Government are supporting affordable housing in this country.