National: Funding approved for almost 550 cost-rental homes across five counties

Over 500 new cost-rental homes have been given the green light across Leinster, costing a total of €100 million.

The 547 new homes across five counties will be provided to Irish buyers at a minimum of 25 per cent below market rates.

Over €675 million has already been approved to assist in the delivery of over 3,250 cost-rental homes across 12 local authority areas.

Today’s announcement will see 25 units will be delivered in Kilkenny, 25 more in Kildare, 28 in Laois, 51 in Cork City and 417 homes earmarked for the Dublin city.

Cost-rental homes are aimed at people on middle incomes who are constrained by rents in the private rental market, but who do not meet the income criteria for social housing support.

Rents are based on the cost of building, managing and maintaining the homes, not market rates.

Qualification for cost-rental housing is based on net household income, which is below €66,000 per annum in Dublin and €59,000 for the rest of the country.

Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien said affordable cost-rental homes have been extremely popular, with most schemes oversubscribed.

"The high demand is a clear indication of the success of this form of housing and the effectiveness of our cost rental approach," he said. "It’s vital that we scale up supply, and approvals such as these are ensuring we can do just that.

"Cost rental means affordable rents – it means security of tenure, it means top quality homes and perhaps most importantly it means peace of mind for tenants, allowing them to establish roots in an area and plan for the future."