199. Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures he is taking to ensure affordability of new homes; if he have a target percentage of new homes that will be deemed affordable; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48003/26]

Supporting home ownership is at the centre of Government’s housing policy, as articulated within our housing action plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities.

The housing action plan reinforces and expands the range of existing affordable housing measures being implemented by the Government. In particular, a new Starter Homes Programme, which is a central component of the plan, aims to deliver an average of 15,000 affordable housing supports annually to 2030, including through the Starter Homes Purchase Scheme, delivered by the local authorities.

To underpin the delivery of the Starter Homes Programme, the Government is investing an unprecedented level of funding by way of a package of exchequer funded affordability measures, investment through the Land Development Agency and lending by the Housing Finance Agency.

This increased funding and expanded delivery will build upon the significant progress already made under our previous plan, Housing for All, with over 2,500 local authority Starter Homes for Purchase (formerly the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme) having been delivered from its launch to the end of 2025. Overall, over 6,450 such homes have been approved for support under the Affordable Housing Fund.

Furthermore, measures such as the First Home Scheme, the Help-to-Buy Scheme, and the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant are also available, to help make home ownership more affordable.

In order to further drive the delivery of starter homes under the new plan, local authorities will shortly commence the preparation of new Housing Delivery Action Plans (HDAPs), for review by my Department, setting out how the Starter Homes Programme will be implemented within their area. These HDAPs, replacing those previously drawn up under Housing for All, will be informed by affordable housing need within each local authority area and will involve collaboration with the delivery partners, including the Land Development Agency and the Approved Housing Bodies, as applicable.

The production of these HDAPs, along with the other measures contained within the housing action plan will build on the significant progress to date, which saw over 9,300 Starter Home supports delivered last year — an increase of over 30% on 2024 and the highest annual total recorded. In addition, home ownership was further enabled in 2025 with the approval of another 9,575 Help to Buy support claims by the Revenue Commissioners.