I propose to take Questions Nos. 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, 666 and 667 together.
Government is fully committed to delivering housing at scale and continuing to accelerate housing supply across all tenures. To this end, affordability and the chance to own a home is at the heart of the Government’s housing policy, as embodied within the new housing plan - Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025 – 2030.
Under this new housing plan, the supports established under the previous plan - Housing for All - will be retained, streamlined and expanded to form a Starter Homes Programme, which will ensure that first time buyers and renters in need of support will continue to be supported by the State.
Kilkenny has seen over 100 affordable housing supports delivered in 2025 under the First Home Scheme (37 homes), the Vacant Homes Refurbishment Grant (69 homes) and the Cost Rental Tenant in Situ Scheme (1 home).
My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics, on a quarterly basis ,of affordable housing delivery activity by local authorities and other delivery partners. Delivery data up to end Q3 2025 is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/.
Kilkenny County Council has submitted an affordable purchase scheme application to my Department, which is currently under assessment, with the potential to deliver 37 new homes. My Department will continue to engage with all delivery partners to further the development of the affordable housing delivery pipeline in Kilkenny.
In order to continue to drive the delivery of affordable housing, all local authorities will prepare new Housing Delivery Action Plans (HDAPs), replacing plans made under Housing for All. HDAPs will set out how the Starter Homes Programme will be implemented within each administrative area. This development of HDAPs will be undertaken in collaboration with delivery partners, including the Land Development Agency and Approved Housing Bodies and will be informed by local needs, taking account of the requirement to provide the right mix of homes within their area.
In terms of the price of new build homes, house prices are varied, and are determined by a number of factors including location, build type and density, among others. The Central Statistics Office publishes mean and median new house prices by Eircode monthly (or as applicable), with the current average (median) new house price in Kilkenny City, Castlecomer and Callan Thomastown indicated as €431,300 (Oct '25).
Current market conditions are taken into consideration when planning for the delivery of affordable purchase and rental schemes. Scheme criteria and support levels for affordable purchase schemes are kept under regular review, taking account of developments in the housing market.
