Housing for All

A new housing plan for Ireland

Housing for All is a radical, realistic and costed plan,
underpinned by record State investment

We know that the impact of the housing crisis is felt in every family across our country.

Housing for All is a radical, realistic and costed plan, underpinned by record State investment in excess of €20bn over five years, which will help our citizens have access to affordable, high-standard housing - to purchase or rent - located in the right places.

It includes actions to increase housing supply of all types in the short-term and measures to ensure we have a sustainable housing system into the future.

What Housing for All means:

For First Time Buyers:

  • Supporting an unprecedented 4,000 Affordable Purchase homes on average every year for families, couples and single people.
  • A new Local Authority-led Affordable Purchase Scheme, targeting average prices of €250,000.
  • A new First Home Shared Equity Scheme for private developments.
  • A reformed Local Authority Home Loan.
  • An ‘Owner-Occupier Guarantee’ in housing developments to secure homes exclusively for first-time buyers and other owner-occupiers.
  • 20% of all developments set aside for affordable and social housing.

For Renters:

  • An average of 2,000 new Cost Rental homes every year with rents targeted at least 25% below market level.
  • Extended Rent Pressure Zones to 2024 and rents linked to the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices.
  • New short-term lettings regulation through a Fáilte Ireland registration system.
  • Indefinite tenancies to strengthen security for renters.
  • Minimum Building Energy Rating standards for private rental dwellings.
  • Upfront deposit and rent payments capped at two months value.

For Low-Income Households:

  • Provide over 90,000 social homes by 2030, including an average annual new-build component of over 9,500 social housing homes to 2026, the highest number in the history of the State.
  • End long-term leasing by Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies through phasing out new entrants and focus on new-build to provide social housing homes.
  • Strengthened Mortgage to Rent Scheme, to ensure that it meets the needs of those in longterm mortgage arrears.
  • Reformed Tenant Purchase Scheme.
  • Revision and reform of income eligibility for social housing.

For Rural Communities:

  • New County Development Plan guidance to ensure appropriate zoning and density levels.
  • A new Croí Cónaithe Fund to service sites and refurbish vacant properties in regional towns and villages.
  • A new Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) Programme to tackle vacancy in towns and villages.
  • New rural housing guidelines to give certainty for development of one-off homes.

For People Experiencing Homelessness: 

  • Work towards eradicating homelessness by 2030.
  • Increased Housing First targets to 1,200 tenancies over five years for homeless people.
  • Establish a new National Homeless Action Committee.
  • Expand Street Outreach Teams for rough sleepers nationwide.
  • Individual Healthcare Plans.

 

For those Trading Up and Rightsizing:

  • Over 300,000 new homes by 2030.
  • A new national policy on rightsizing to highlight the potential of rightsizing for households that no longer fully occupy their current privately owned accommodation and exploration of options to support and incentivise rightsizing on a voluntary basis.

 

 

For Communities:

  • Radical new modern Kenny Report style powers to ensure sharing of the increase in land values from re-zoning decisions and greater community gain.
  • Ending Strategic Housing Developments, returning planning decisions to Local Authorities and reforming the judicial review process.
  • A new Tax to activate Vacant Land for residential purposes.
  • Collection of data on vacancy levels with a view to introducing a new Vacant Property. Tax to ensure empty properties are used.
  • An amended Fair Deal Scheme to stop penalising sale and rental income.

For Construction Workers:

  • 27,500 new construction jobs to meet required annual output levels.
  • Stability and certainty in the building sector through a long-term funding pipeline.
  • New apprenticeship opportunities and a targeted campaign at school leavers to build up capacity in the sector.
  • A new Construction Technology Centre to drive innovation and productivity in the sector.

For Towns and Cities:

  • A new Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Fund to increase owner-occupier apartment development in city centres.
  • Increased funding capacity for the LDA for strategic development of public lands for affordable and social housing in city and town centres.
  • Targeted funding via the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) and Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) to support the Town Centre First approach, as part of the wider objectives for the regeneration of cities, towns and rural areas.
  • Planning exemptions for ‘above shop’ conversions and guidance relating to protected structures.
  • A nationwide, Local Authority led, Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) Scheme to purchase vacant homes.

For People Starting Again:

  • A Fresh Start principle for applications to State affordable housing and loan schemes.
  • People who are divorced and have no interest in the family home or who have undergone insolvency proceedings will be eligible to apply to those schemes.

How will Housing for All support home ownership and increase affordability?

  • Delivery of 54,000 affordable homes between now and 2030.
  • An average of 6,000 affordable homes to be made available every year for purchase or for rent by Local Authorities, AHBs, the LDA and through a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.
  • A new, nationally available, affordable purchase shared-equity First Home scheme, until 2025, for new-build homes in private developments.
  • A new Local Authority-led Affordable Purchase Scheme.
  • The Land Development Agency (LDA) will be a new and important source of affordable housing on public land and will advance a new initiative, Project Tosaigh, to enable the early delivery of new affordable homes.
  • The introduction of a new form of rental tenure and delivery of ‘Cost Rental’ homes.
  • Expanded Part V requirements to increase the percentage contribution from 10% to 20% and applied to affordable as well as social housing.
  • Launch of a newly expanded Local Authority Home Loan.
  • A ‘Fresh Start’ principle for applications to affordable housing and loan schemes.
  • Extended Rent Pressure Zone Protections to 2024 and rents linked to the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices.
  • Introduction of indefinite tenures for rent leases.