Housing

State to sink another €450m into leasing of 1,000 social housing units

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has committed to phasing out the practice, which Eurostat said lined developers’ pockets but delivered no benefit to the state

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said last year that the state should not be leasing homes. Picture: Fergal Phillips

A new €450 million state fund has been launched to lease 1,000 new-build homes for social housing, a practice which Taoiseach Micheál Martin has committed to phasing out.

The move comes as the government is faced with potentially missing social housing targets in the coming years.

Last week, the Housing Agency said in a plea issued to developers and property investors that the state needed to “expedite additional permanent social housing” between now and 2025 ...