On 25 April the Irish Government announced a housing plan, termed by some as a “mini housing budget”, aimed at cutting the cost of building and refurbishing homes and further speeding up the delivery of housing.
The plan is comprised of the following measures:
- The temporary waiver for development contributions on new homes. These contributions, by which developers contribute to the cost of providing public infrastructure, will be waived temporarily and such waiver will be contingent upon the home being completed within a defined period of time, with a view to speeding up supply. It is understood that the resulting shortfall in local authority income will be reimbursed by central Government in order to fund the continued provision of infrastructure.
- An increase in grants to fund the cost of refurbishing vacant homes. The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant is to be increased from €30,000 to €50,000 for vacant properties and from €50,000 to €70,000 for derelict properties. It will also be extended to cover houses built up to 2007 (under current rules, the grant only applies to homes built before 1993) and will be available for rental properties, as well as owner-occupied properties.
- A Government contribution of up to €750m towards to financing of construction of affordable housing for cost rental. This contribution will provide funding of up to €150,000 per building. It is understood that both the Land Development Agency and developers more generally will be in a position to avail of the funding.
We will share further details of each measure when available. In the meantime, for further information please contact Aoife Smyth, Knowledge Consultant, or any member of A&L Goodbody’s Real Estate team.