New housing measures will build new homes more quickly, says Higgins

Extra measures agreed by Cabinet today under the Housing for All plan will speed up home building and drive down building costs in Dublin, Fine Gael says.

Deputy Emer Higgins, TD for Dublin Mid-West said that these additional provisions are good news for home buyers, renters and builders.

“There are three strands to these new measures, which will make home ownership more affordable for many again,” said Deputy Higgins.

The measures consist of reducing the cost of construction by scrapping the development levies required to connect new homes with roads, water and other services, increasing the pace at which vacant and derelict properties are renovated for new housing, and Government-funded construction of affordable apartments under the cost rental system.

“Thousands of private and public homes are being built but we need to do more,” Deputy Higgins said.

“These additional measures will make it cheaper to build and refurbish a home. It will speed up new home building and drive down costs across the board.

“Housing for All is working. 30,000 new homes were built last year – ahead of target – and up from just 4,500 ten years ago.

“We can all see evidence of new construction around us in Dublin,” she said.

The proposal to cut development levies has been criticised by the opposition however, with Sinn Fein councillor Daithí Doolan saying that Dublin City Council and other local authorities relying on the funding to provide essential services.