Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 March 2026
165. Deputy Shay Brennan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the way in which he is working to reduce the overall cost of apartment delivery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17490/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraDelivering Homes, Building Communities our new national housing plan is a wide-ranging action plan focused on housing supply and targeting homelessness.
The plan focuses on enabling the supply of 300,000 homes to be achieved through activating more land, providing more housing-related infrastructure, securing more development finance for home building, addressing viability challenges particularly those seen in apartment delivery, increasing the adoption of Modern Methods of Construction alongside standardised design approaches, increasing the skills in the residential construction sector and working toward ending dereliction and vacancy.
In line with this plan, Government has already taken decisive action to reduce the overall cost of apartment construction while increasing delivery in our urban areas. Budget 2026 introduced a suite of taxation measures aimed at stimulating the supply of new apartments such as reducing the VAT rate on the sale of new apartments to 9% and introducing an enhanced Corporation Tax deduction for apartment construction costs.
Additionally, funding is available under the Croí Cónaithe Cities Scheme to support the building of apartments for sale to owner-occupiers through a subvention to bridge the gap between the delivery cost and the market sale price.
My Department is also progressing the preparation of a draft National Planning Statement for the Government’s consideration to replace the current apartment guidelines. These will allow for greater flexibility in relation to the size and mix of apartments, in addition to other changes to standards to be applied consistently by planning authorities. The overall purpose is to strike an effective regulatory balance, ensuring that apartment development meets the needs of society in terms of standards and quality, while promoting an increased level of overall output.
Under the new plan, I will continue to systematically examine wider input costs in the delivery of new housing alongside monitoring of investment, planning and commencement activity in apartments to inform ongoing policy consideration in this area.
