Page 9 - Council Journal Winter 2019

NEWS Affordable Housing Affordable Housing Scheme
TLaunched in Cork
An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar TD, and the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy T.D officially turned the sod on a new affordable housing scheme in Boherboy, Co Cork recently. This was the first such scheme to be delivered under the Serviced Site Fund. By the end of next year, 2,000 new affordable homes will be available nationwide in developments which have been subsidised by the Government.
he Boherboy project will see the development of 153 homes in total. There will be 116 new energy efficient
affordable homes available to buy; 24 Two Bedroom Homes and 92 Three Bedroom Units, as well as a crèche on site. The houses are expected to be ready by this time next year. In addition, a portion of the site is being made available for 37 apartments which will be used for social housing.
This housing development is being made possible thanks to a grant of almost €5 million under the Serviced Site Scheme, which is operated by the Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government.
The Scheme is designed to fund the servicing of the site, including upgrades to the nearby road network and local drainage services, which helps make the homes more affordable. The houses on this site will range in price from €198,000 to €223,000.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste Simon Coveney & Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy visit Cork to turn the sod on a new housing development
The supply of new homes is steadily increasing all the time; we now expect about 22,000 new homes will be built this year and more than 50,000 new homes have been built over the last 3 years.
The Government has initiated a number of supporting instruments such as the Local Infrastructure Housing Affordable Fund (LIHAF) and the Serviced Sites Fund (SSF) to help fund the cost of public infrastructure to ensure that more affordable housing development can take place on key sites in urban areas of high demand. The Minister noted that
that will ramp up further in the years ahead.
By the end of 2020, some 2,000 more affordable and cost reduced homes will have been added to the housing stock. Funding is in place and projects being developed to ensure a significant escalation in affordable housing output over the coming years,” the Minister added.
on Cork's northside.
As supply increases, we need to ensure we have new housing of all forms - home to buy, homes to rent, social housing for people on the housing list and, of course, subsidised affordable housing.
“The grant funding for the LIHAF and Serviced Sites Fund, which cumulatively amounts to over €500m, is helping to open up sites both in private and in local authority ownership - providing for the delivery of much needed affordable homes, for purchase and rent, in areas where prices are challenging for lower to middle-income earners.
Minister Murphy also remarked that these interventions constitute just one part of a comprehensive programme to support the delivery of discounted homes and noted that
We set up the Serviced Site Fund to increase the supply of affordable housing schemes and these are now becoming a reality around the country. By the end of next year, 2,000 new affordable homes – in developments subsidised by the Government - will be available, and
“Together with other complementary and targeted affordability measures under Rebuilding Ireland, the delivery of affordable homes will have a really positive impact on the availability of affordable housing,” he said.
Council Journal 9