Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 April 2023
201. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Finance the scope to expand the funding capabilities of Home Building Finance Ireland, which has supported the development of over 5,700 homes to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18782/23]
View answerHome Building Finance Ireland was set up by the Government in 2019 to provide funding directly to housebuilders to build homes for owner occupiers, renters and those in need of social housing.
Since then, HBFI has provided funding of €1.25bn to fund 5,717 new homes across 21 counties. 68% of the funding provided to date is for houses and 32% for apartments.
Over the last number of years HBFI has been agile and responsive to the changing funding landscape and, by engaging with stakeholders, has adapted its product offering as required. HBFI provides funding for all types of supply from smaller schemes of five units up to larger schemes of 300 units. It also launched a product specifically to support social and affordable housing schemes and a Green loan to support sustainable house building across Ireland.
During Covid 19, HBFI also launched a temporary "Momentum Fund" to ensure larger housebuilders continued to get access to funding to bring forward much needed supply at a time when the availability of funding was more challenging.
HBFI’s broad product range and ability to adapt its offering to respond to changing market conditions ensures that finance is available for all commercially viable schemes. HBFI will continue to engage with stakeholders and has the ability to further evolve its product offering if required.
