LDA aiming to deliver 14,000 new homes over next four years

The Land Development Agency (LDA) is aiming to deliver 14,000 new homes over the next four years, TDs and Senators will we told on Tuesday.

The State body set up to build social and affordable housing on public land has been cricitised in the past for the slow delivery of homes.

Its chief executive John Coleman will tell the Oireachtas Committee on Housing it is projecting the direct delivery of 6,000 homes by the end of 2028.

This would mean the LDA is “trending towards matching or exceeding the current scale of the largest Irish housebuilders”, he will say.

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He is to tell the meeting that the LDA’s first direct delivery of homes are nearing completion in Shanganagh, Co Dublin and they will be made available later this year.

Mr Coleman expects the LDA to have eight directly controlled sites under construction in 2024.

A further 8,000 homes could be delivered under the Project Tosaigh scheme by the end of 2028.

In his opening statement, Mr Coleman will tell the committee this involves “the LDA partnering with housebuilders to ensure the delivery of stalled or unviable housing and then making the homes available through cost rental or affordable purchase schemes.”

He adds: “This delivery mechanism is critical to keep industry output going at a time when private ‘build-to-rent’ schemes have fallen away and developers are experiencing difficulties accessing finance.”

Mr Coleman will say that “a firm pipeline” of at least 2,500 Project Tosaigh-supported homes are already delivered, contracted or in advanced negotiations.

This month more than 600 cost rental homes were released on to the market across four new developments in Dublin and in Kildare, the committee will hear.

He will say: “When both delivery channels are considered in combination, the delivery outlook for the LDA comprises around 14,000 high-quality and affordable homes delivered by the end of 2028, subject to ongoing funding.”

The committee will hear that the LDA was pleased with the Government’s decision to increase its equity capital from €1.25 billion to €3.75 billion, in addition to a borrowing permissibility of €1.25 billion.

“This will enable us to continue to commit to direct delivery and Project Tosaigh schemes for the foreseeable future,” Mr Coleman will say.

He will tell TDs and Senators that the LDA has “made major progress since its inception around five years ago.

“From a standing start with no staff, no bank accounts, no sites or no service providers to help bring forward projects, we are broadly following the growth trajectory of Ireland’s largest housebuilders on our direct delivery projects and this output will be doubled through our Project Tosaigh partnerships.

“This level of delivery makes the LDA’s work critical to addressing the country’s housing need.”

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