Housing target for 2023 exceeded but Taoiseach says Government must do better

There were 32,695 new homes completed in 2023, exceeding the target of 29,000 set out in the Government’s housing plan.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said this was the highest number of homes built in Ireland since 2008, but added that the Government needed to “do better” this year and “better again” next year.

He said that in 2011 fewer than 7,000 houses had been built in Ireland, and that there had been a “fourfold” increase in 2023 compared with then, but admitted that the State was still playing “catch up”.

“The housing deficit remains very big, we have a rising population and ever smaller household sizes. So we need more homes and we need them built as soon as possible. But we can only do that so quickly,” Mr Varadkar said.

“The increase in supply that we’re seeing in Ireland was not a foregone conclusion.”

Figures in the Housing for All update published on Thursday afternoon show that construction had begun on 32,800 new homes last year, up 22% on 2022.

More than 3,000 vacant property refurbishment grant applications were approved last year, and construction had begun on over 2,000 new homes on State land sites in December 2023.

“Of course, I’m very aware that for a lot of people, none of this good news matters,” Mr Varadkar said at a press briefing, adding that “far too many people are paying rents that are far too high for far too long”.

The number of social and affordable houses built in 2023 has not yet been calculated; the Government had set out to build 9,100 social homes and 5,500 affordable and cost-rental homes in 2023 in its housing plan.

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said that they would deliver “significantly more than we did in 2022” in relation to social and affordable housing new builds, “particularly on the affordable side”.

He said the number of options and supports available to people were “unprecedented”, and said there was “no evidence whatsoever of there being an inflationary (effect from) the Help to Buy grant”.

Mr O’Brien said that when the First Home Scheme was launched, people said it could be “a second mortgage” and “none of that is true”.

He added: “I think the people who are buying homes, their testimonies tell how important this is for them.

“In my own area in Lusk we’re selling homes from 166,000 euro. If you asked me three years ago if homes were being sold at 166,000 euro in Lusk, before Housing for All, people would have thought you were mad, but that’s happening.”

Asked about homelessness, Mr O’Brien said he expects a decrease in the Department of Housing figures to be published on Friday, but said that is nothing to be “complacent” about.

He said: “We will publish the monthly figures tomorrow in relation to December’s homeless numbers, we expect there to be a decrease when they are published. That’s not something to be complacent about in any way, shape or form.

“Really, what’s important is we continue to increase that supply of public housing so that we can exit people from emergency accommodation quicker into safe and secure homes. That is our number one priority in this space.”

Asked about the bulk purchasing of homes after the Business Post reported that Ryanair had bought 25 homes for its staff in a Dublin estate, Tanaiste Micheal Martin and Mr O’Brien said “a small percentage” of homes are being bought in this way.

“What we’re seeing now is a small percentage – 25 homes in Swords, it is a very, very large estate with thousands of homes and this is 25 of that – we’ve seen a legacy issue where some properties where permissions were granted before that.

“In this instance I understand Ryanair have bought those properties for their staff to deliver affordable housing for them. The 10% additional stamp duty or stamp duty rate will still apply to them.”

He said that since May 2021, when an owner-occupier guarantee was included in planning proposals, “the playing pitch is levelled for first-time buyers”, and that this was evidenced by mortgages being drawn down by first-time buyers.

“We want family homes to be able to be purchased by families and individuals. That’s why we make those planning changes. There are some small residual schemes like this where planning permissions were granted prior to myself making those kind of changes. Those changes have been made and are actually having an effect.”

Mr Martin said there is a “false perception” that vulture funds are bulk buying housing estates across the country, where 42,500 homes were “protected” by planning changes.

He added: “It is not our position that we want housing estates bought up by funds or institutions, but demonstrably, if you look at the figures, I mean there’s 30,500 first-time buyer mortgage approvals last year, that is real evidence of the overall picture.”