Minister for Housing James Browne is to allocate €436m for social housing needs this year.
This includes capital funding allocations of €325m to be used by local authorities for the second-hand social housing acquisitions programme.
€111m has also been allocated for 82 new social housing projects which will provide over 1,300 newly built homes, delivered over the period 2025 to 2027.
This €111m figure comes from a €450m for social and affordable housing fund announced by the Government last month.
The new builds, 575 of which will be delivered this year, include: 542 homes in Dublin; 234 homes in Cork City and County; 60 homes in Westmeath; 58 homes in Meath; 59 homes in Limerick; 56 homes in Kerry; 55 homes in Wicklow; 30 homes in Kilkenny; and 231 homes across 13 other counties.
Mr Browne said such new builds are “key to addressing the housing challenge and in particular preventing and ultimately eliminating long-term homelessness”.
This year’s second-hand acquisitions programme will be focused on Tenant-in-Situ Acquisitions; Older persons and persons with a disability; Exits from homeless services; and Buy and Renew acquisitions which tackle vacancy
Mr Browne said the Government has funded the acquisition of almost 7,000 social homes since 2020, at a cost of €2bn.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Browne said he wanted to maximise the delivery of homes and the only way to do this was through “supply, supply, supply”.
“I don’t get into predictions. I don’t get into estimates. What matters is the real numbers. And my aim is to deliver, maximise the delivery of homes in this country, whether that be social, affordable or private,” he said.
“We want to get homelessness under control. We want to get it reduced and we want to get it eliminated. The only way to do that is to maximise supply,” Mr Browne added.
However, Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin has called on Mr Browne to “come clean on social and affordable housing funding”.
The Dublin Mid-West TD claimed that the government has allocated €104m less for social and affordable housing this year compared to 2024.
He said: “In 2024 the total exchequer expenditure on the delivery of social and affordable homes under the five funding headings was €2,818bn. The allocation for 2025 as set out by the Department of Finance last December across these schemes was €2.277bn, €540m less than in 2024.”
“While the Government will try and dress today’s announcement up as an increase in funding for social and affordable housing, what it actually confirms is that the level of funding that has been cut for this year compared to last year, assuming that all of the €436m is additional to the allocations announced in the 2025 Revised Estimates.
“At a time when private sector investment in housing appears to be cooling, Government should be increasing its levels of investment into social and affordable housing ensuring much needed homes would be delivered,” Mr Ó Broin added.
Article Source – Minister to allocate €436m for social housing needs – RTE
