Minister Browne allocates €168 million funding for 849 new cost rental and affordable purchase homes
- Foilsithe: 27 Feabhra 2025
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 12 Aibreán 2025
- over €156 million for 686 new cost rental homes
- additional €12 million towards 163 new affordable purchase homes
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne has allocated funding to deliver 849 new cost rental and affordable purchase homes across ten different local authorities.
The funding will further increase the supply of affordable, high-quality housing for both buyers and renters in high-demand areas across Ireland.
Cost Rental homes
Speaking about the funding for new cost rental homes, Minister Browne emphasised:
“The overwhelming popularity of affordable cost rental homes, with most schemes in high demand, highlights the success of this model and our approach. To meet this demand, we need to scale up supply, and these approvals represent a significant expansion.
“Cost rental means affordable rents, the security of knowing you have a long-term tenancy, the comfort of a high-standard home and perhaps most significantly, the peace of mind to settle down in an area and build a future.”
The funding of over €156 million announced today will provide for the following developments:
- Cork City: 358 new cost rental homes
- Fingal: 141 new cost rental homes
- Galway City: 75 new cost rental homes
- Meath: 51 new cost rental homes
- South Dublin: 30 new cost rental homes
- Louth: 23 new cost rental homes
- Westmeath: 8 new cost rental homes
Under the cost rental scheme, rents are at least 25% below comparable market rates for the area with some developments achieving discounted rates of up to 33%. Already, over 2,640 cost rental homes have been delivered by Approved Housing Bodies, Local Authorities and the Land Development Agency. There is a delivery pipeline of more than 8,600 cost rental homes.
Affordable Purchase homes
Minister Browne also confirmed funding of over €11.8 million funding to support the delivery of 163 new affordable purchase homes. He added:
“The affordable purchase scheme offers first-time buyers and fresh-starters the opportunity to purchase homes at below market rates. Like the cost-rental scheme, it has been an extremely popular initiative with a high degree of interest in schemes advertised to date.
“This funding will continue to grow the delivery pipeline for this form of housing and will support government policy of making homeownership a realistic aspiration for more of our citizens.”
This funding will support the delivery of new affordable purchase homes in:
- Cork City: 86 homes
- Wexford: 36 homes
- Meath: 14 homes
- Monaghan: 10 homes
- Limerick: 9 homes
- Louth: 8 homes
This affordable purchase delivery pipeline continues to grow with over 3,800 affordable purchase homes approved for support from the Affordable Housing Fund.
Notes
Cost rental
Cost rental homes are aimed at people on middle incomes who are constrained by rents in the private rental market, but who don’t meet the income criteria for social housing support. You qualify for cost rental housing if your net household income is below €66,000 per annum in Dublin and €59,000 for everywhere else in the country.
These homes are being financed under the department’s Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL). The CREL is available to Approved Housing Bodies who provide cost rental homes.
Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme
The Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme helps first-time buyers and fresh-starters buy a home at a discount to the home’s market price. It aims to help people buy their own home when they may not otherwise have been able to.