Clúid Housing, Ireland’s leading Approved Housing Body (AHB), welcomes the Government’s announcement of changes to the funding options for the provision of Cost Rental homes. The announcement included changes to the existing Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) scheme to make Cost Rental homes more viable for delivery at scale, as well as introducing the new Secure Tenancy Affordable Rental (STAR) scheme.
Brian O’Gorman, Chief Executive Officer, Clúid Housing, said, “Clúid is committed to the delivery of new Cost Rental homes. We lobbied for the introduction of this type of tenure and believe in the transformative effect Cost Rental can have on the entire housing system, if it is supported to flourish. While increasing costs of materials and labour are making it difficult to deliver high-quality homes at 25% below the market rent, the changes to the funding model for Cost Rental homes announced yesterday will make this type of accommodation more viable to deliver.
“We know from our current Cost Rental residents what a positive impact secure, affordable housing can have on people’s lives, so we are excited to deliver more Cost Rental homes for families across the country.”
Clúid’s Chief Financial Officer, Deirdre Collier, noted, “Rising building costs, compounded by increases in interest rates, have made it harder for us to make the sums add up for Cost Rental homes – not only do rents have to be at least 25% below the market rate, they also have to be affordable for the people on middle incomes who Cost Rental is designed to support. We are heartened to hear these new developments and look forward to further clarification on the finer details.
Brian O’Gorman, Chief Executive Officer, Clúid Housing, added, “I want to thank Minister O’Brien and officials in the Department of Housing for involving AHBs, such as Clúid, in these discussions. This was further evidence of the important partnership between AHBs and Department in reaching the Housing for All targets. We look forward to participating in further discussions on how changes to financing options can secure the continued delivery of much needed social housing.”
