178. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps his Department is taking to upscale and measure the number of cost rental housing in Laois; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48276/26]

Cost Rental is a key element of the Government’s Delivering Homes, Building Communities housing action plan and is designed to provide secure, long-term rental accommodation at rents that are significantly below market levels. It is targeted at households whose incomes exceed the threshold for social housing support but who may face challenges affording private sector rents. The main eligibility condition for Cost Rental comprises an annual net income limit of €66,000 in the four Dublin local authority areas, and €59,000 in the rest of Ireland.

Approved Housing Bodies have so far delivered 60 new Cost Rental homes across two developments in Portlaoise, at The Maltings in 2024 and Rath Rua in 2025. In terms of future delivery, the Department’s funding schemes are available to Cost Rental providers on a nationwide basis, including Co Laois.

The Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) scheme provides funding to Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) to finance development or acquisitions of new Cost Rental homes, on a sliding scale basis of up to 55% of the total capital costs for the homes. The 55% CREL model incorporates a mix of a long-term loan (up to a maximum of 35% of capital costs) along with a State equity investment element (up to a maximum of 20% of capital costs). The CREL scheme is available nationwide and AHBs have delivered more than 3,500 Cost Rental homes across 17 Local Authority Areas through the Cost Rental Equity Loan since the passing of the Affordable Housing Act 2021 to the end of 2025. In total, 117 projects have been approved for CREL since its inception in 2021 to date, with anticipated cumulative delivery of just over 8,600 homes by the end of 2029 with associated CREL funding support of €2bn.

The Secure Tenancy Affordable Rental investment scheme (STAR) launched in 2023. The scheme supports the delivery at scale of Cost Rental homes, to be let at a minimum of 25% below comparable market rental levels in high demand urban areas. The STAR scheme is available to providers nationwide and provides equity investment up to a maximum of €175,000 per unit in Dublin and €150,000 per unit in the rest of Ireland, with an additional €25,000 available for meeting the sustainability criteria as set out in the Scheme. To date, 10 applications have been approved for funding for the delivery of 2,422 Cost Rental homes under the Scheme.

The Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) is also available to all local authorities, including Laois County Council, to assist towards the cost of developing affordable housing at locations where significant affordability needs have been identified. To date, the local authority affordable housing delivery programme is supporting the delivery of over 7,900 affordable homes, including over 1,200 Cost Rental homes. Overall, to support local authority delivery of both Starter Purchase and Cost Rental homes, grant assistance of over €714m is in place under the AHF.

My Department, the Housing Agency, and the Housing Delivery Co-ordination Office of the Local Government Management Association continue to be available to assist Laois County Council to develop an affordable delivery programme that will respond effectively to identified localised affordability needs in key urban locations, including Cost Rental where appropriate. The emphasis is on proactively collaborating to identify, develop, and deliver viable affordable housing opportunities.