The Government is to look at financing the building of apartments where tenants would be offered affordable rents.
The Cabinet will this week consider a package aiming to reduce the cost of construction as well as increasing the pace at which derelict properties are renovated for new housing. The housing package follows on from advice the Housing Commission and the Taoiseach's Housing Summit gave to Government back in January, RTE News reports.
Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien will seek approval for new measures to incentivise developers to build homes and reduce the cost of construction. He said he wanted to expand the Croi Conaithe scheme which currently offers grants of €30,000 for vacant homes and €50,000 for derelict properties.
He said: “We’ll be looking to make some quite significant changes to that. I am going to allow properties up to 2007 into the scheme. Homes that are not in use are the best homes to get back into use.” Mr O’Brien said he would bring proposals to Cabinet on how to reduce building costs, focusing on dormant or paused planning permissions and “how we can get them moving”.
The minister also suggested cost rental tenures offer secure housing for tenants and the scheme should be expanded to increase building. He said: “We do have to look at things, particularly around the cost-rentals being popular. It’s a new form of tenure – we have over a thousand tenancies approved right across the country.
“But we have obviously seen an increase in financing costs because interest rates have gone up. We’re exploring how we can bridge that viability gap. Cost rental has ramped up, but I’d like to see it go further.” Rent on cost rental homes is based on projected outlay to build, manage and maintain the property - calculated over a minimum of 40 years.
A spokesperson for the Taoiseach said: "We have the best social housing output since the 1970s, commencements are bouncing back, and we are likely to meet our overall supply target again this year."
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