Housing finance agency approves €100m in funding for 500 homes

The Government's new housing finance agency, Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI), approved over €100 million in funding for the construction of over 500 new homes in its first nine months of operations.

In an update, the fund, which has €750 million at its disposal, said it had received over 40 full applications, with 90 per cent relating to developments outside Dublin.

It said it had approved €102 million in funding, facilitating the delivery of 513 new homes. Individual developments backed by agency range from 10 units to 76 homes while individual loan facilities range from €1.5 million to €18 million.

The agency, which was set up last year, said it backed developments in 11 counties: Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Louth, Laois, Carlow, Clare, Kerry, Wicklow, Monaghan and Cork.

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It said it has capacity to fund the delivery of up to 7,500 homes over a five-year period.

Under the scheme, builders who have been unable to secure loans from banks or other lenders will have access to five-year loans of up to €35 million, for developments ranging in size from 10 to about 200 homes.

"The figures published today show that HBFI has made a strong start in its efforts to help deliver more new homes," Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said.

“By funding commercially viable developments of varying sizes, HBFI will make a difference and meet demand for new homes both in Dublin and in regional locations where construction firms have limited options in terms of accessing the funding they need,” he said.

HBFI chief executive Dara Deering said: "In addition to the €102 million funding we have approved to date, we have established a healthy pipeline of applications which augurs well for our work, as we continue to build awareness in the market of the significant support we can provide to housebuilders throughout Ireland with commercially viable projects."

“ We have plans to support big and small developments wherever demand for new homes exists and we will continue to build on the excellent engagement that HBFI has had with the market to date,” he added.