I thank Senator Boyhan for raising the issue. It is a very important site. I got the guided tour from Councillor John Bailey and Deputy Maria Bailey over a year ago and I had a good look at it. I also met with council officials to look at various sites in the area. The Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has also visited the area.
We are very conscious of the importance of this area for delivering housing, whether social, affordable or private, in particular at this key site, which the State has invested in and which the local authority owns. It is important that we put it to good use. I am as eager as the Senator to see this and other prime local authority sites developed as quickly as possible. The Minister and I are determined to see the Shanganagh site deliver to its full potential and we would like that done as quickly as possible. It is a key housing authority asset that must be mobilised for the sustainable development not only of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown but of Dublin as a whole. We are all on the same page. I met elected representatives from different parties, who all see this as a valuable site. It is important we focus on its development.
While the development of any residential land in housing authority ownership is, in the first instance, a matter for the local authority concerned, including its elected members, we need to see new social and affordable homes realised from State housing land without delay, with particular emphasis on prioritising those sites with the greatest potential to deliver housing at scale in the short to medium term. Shanganagh is such a site and it can deliver the scale. While the Senator is right that there are infrastructural issues, it is my strong belief and that of the Department that infrastructural issues can be solved and addressed in parallel with the construction of houses. That is the way we have to approach these sites. It is very positive that the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council members have come together, on a cross-party basis, with a view to achieving the optimal housing outcome for this site, which can deliver over 500 new homes on a mixed-tenure basis.
The options for the delivery and financing of social housing are well established and understood at this stage. The Minister and I have made it clear that direct Exchequer funding is available for any social housing element of this mixed-tenure development. Again, we have been very clear with the councils and housing officials that the moneys are there, that we want a strong pipeline of projects and that we want delivery. Targets are set for each local authority and we are out there looking for a further pipeline of projects to be delivered this year, next year and the year after. We cannot be any clearer than that. The resources are there to make it happen across a range of mechanisms and schemes.
In terms of affordable housing, affordable purchase can be pursued in accordance with the provisions of Part 5 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, which are now commenced. This is a suitable site for affordable housing. The scheme is well defined in the Act and this will be followed up with associated regulations and guidance in the weeks ahead.
With regard to affordable rental, the Minister is determined that cost rental will become a major part of our rental landscape in the future. It is clear there is a gap between social housing rental and the private rental market that needs to be filled. Cost rental can make a sustainable impact on housing affordability, competitiveness and the attractiveness of our main urban centres as places to live and work. Importantly, unlike affordable purchase, cost rental homes remain available in local authority ownership and can be allocated as affordable units in the long term. Furthermore, they also provide an income stream that can be re-invested in more affordable housing or land. Again, this is a suitable site for any of these options.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown is leading the way on cost rental, working with the Housing Agency and a number of approved housing bodies, which is welcome. I commend the council on the signing of agreements on the pilot project at Enniskerry Road. I understand the tenders were opened yesterday, so the development of that site is imminent. I am glad this is the case because there has been a focus on it for a while.
In order to support local authorities to get their sites ready for affordable housing, additional funding is being provided for enabling infrastructure via the serviced sites fund, for which €310 million has been allocated for the next couple of years. While the Shanganagh site was not included in the first call after the Minister in June asked local authorities to submit proposals under the serviced sites initiative, we expect it will feature in a future call, once the infrastructural masterplan is available. Again, I stress it is quite possible in today's world to develop infrastructure and housing at the same time, so they are both ready to be used at the same time.
Woodbrook-Shanganagh is also a designated major urban housing development site. In recognition of this, we have committed funding of just over €4 million under the local infrastructure housing activation fund to build public infrastructure which will open up the site for early development. In terms of moving this on, I understand a number of options have been examined. My Department is working with the council and the NDFA to compare the development approaches for the site - in fact, they are meeting again this afternoon - and a project board is in place to drive delivery. The Minister and I, no more than the Senator, want to ensure we make the most of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to get the development right. There are a number of different housing types that can be used there and the sooner it happens, the better, as far as we are concerned.