THE STATE\u2019S AFFORDABLE housing agency is planning to increase the number of homes it builds outside of Dublin \u2013 but the attention will still be mostly on the capital between now and 2030.<\/p>\n
The Land Development Agency (LDA) has said it is on track to build some 13,272 new homes between now and 2030, with around 1,800 set to be finished this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some 7,892 will be completed directly, while 5,380 will be delivered through Project Tosaigh initiative, which aims to accelerate delivery of housing on sites with full planning permission that are not currently being developed by private sector owners.<\/p>\n
Of the 27 projects, only 10 are set to be outside of Dublin.<\/p>\n
The LDA said it is \u201cfirmly in our plans\u201d to expand beyond cities and start to build smaller scale developments in other parts of the country.<\/p>\n
Established in 2021, the agency\u2019s main role is to acquire and develop state and other land to deliver affordable homes. It has built some 3,215 new homes since 2022, the majority of which have been in Dublin, with around 10,000 people now living in them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a mid-year update at its offices on Dublin\u2019s Townsend Street on Wednesday,\u00a0the LDA said that most of its upcoming developments will be apartments in Dublin and Cork, with other projects planned for Limerick, Galway and Kildare.\u00a0<\/p>\n
LDA chief executive John Coleman also told reporters there is \u201ca lot of interest\u201d in Waterford at the moment.<\/p>\n
The agency is particularly interested in building around 400 to 500 homes in the North Quays area of Waterford with the local council, as well as around 200 to 300 homes at the site of the former St Otteran\u2019s Hospital site in the city, he said. These would then be sold on.<\/p>\n
Coleman said the agency also has plans to expand to more regional areas.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nThere\u2019s lots of great places to live around Ireland that aren\u2019t the cities, and we have a mandate now from the government to drive development regionally.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cWhat that looks like to us is to select and pursue sites that are outside the city areas and to bring them to a scale of average 200 homes, to select a material number of those and to bring them through the planning process with a view to get them up and running for development.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said even if they initially cost more than what the LDA could sell them for on the market, \u201cwe\u2019re still prepared to take those first steps on the ladder without knowing exactly what the final few steps will be\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least if you have sites with planning permission, you\u2019ve got options to make decisions. If you don\u2019t have those, you\u2019ve no options.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coleman said the LDA is currently \u201clooking at a number of opportunities\u201d to acquire land in Limerick, Cork, Galway, the Greater Dublin area and some surrounding counties.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely part of the future of the LDA, and we\u2019ll have good clarity on that as the year progresses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Housing projections<\/p>\n
The agency now controls or has rights to land for approximately 30,000 homes. There are currently 6,449 under construction.<\/p>\n
It is projecting some 1,800 homes will be delivered before the end of the year, with a spend of \u20ac1.5 billion on land and housing development forecast for this year. Of that figure, around \u20ac200 million would be for buying land.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A total of 8,300 homes are projected to be built between this year and 2028. This will cost somewhere in the region of \u20ac3.5 billion, according to Coleman.<\/p>\n
The LDA delivers homes in two ways: acquiring public or private land and procuring a building contractor to build the apartments, or funding builders through schemes like Project Tosaigh to build apartments which are then given back to the LDA.<\/p>\n
In both instances, they typically operate the apartments under the cost-rental model. That is where the price of rent is at least 25% below the regular market rate in the area.<\/p>\n
Coleman said the agency is \u201cincreasingly efficient as a direct house-builder ourselves\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re experiencing very good results in our tender prices on direct delivery, to the point now that it is cheaper for us to deliver by doing it directly ourselves rather than engaging a house builder.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said \u201ca lot of positive changes have been made\u201d that has improved delivery of homes, including an increase in funding from the government and fewer delays as a result of judicial reviews, which he felt were abused in the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n