- Funding approved for 8,495 homes in 129 developments in 22 counties (72% houses, 28% apartments) to date exceeding its initial 5-year target
- 47% of HBFI-funded homes are for owner-occupiers, 30% for social/affordable housing, 6% Part V and 17% for renters
- 4,338 HBFI-funded homes are either already sold, contracted for sale or sale agreed
Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI), set up by the Government to fund the delivery of new homes, has grown total loan approvals to €1.66bn at the end of December 2023, an increase of 33% on the €1.25bn at the end of 2022.
HBFI’s 2023 performance update, published today, shows demand for HBFI funding remained strong throughout 2023, with total new loan approvals of €408m over the course of the year. HBFI’s pipeline of potential new developments is positive moving into 2024.
At the end of December 2023, HBFI had approved funding for 8,495 new homes in 129 developments across 22 counties.
Today’s update also shows HBFI has exceeded the 5-year target set by the Government at it’s inception in 2019, approving funding for 8,495 homes over that period versus a target of 7,500. HBFI is now in a position where it recycles capital from completed developments to new developments ensuring it has sufficient funding available.
2,837 HBFI-funded units have already been sold, with a further 1,501 contracted for sale or sale agreed as at the end of December 2023.
Of the €1.66bn approved, drawdowns have taken place in respect of facilities totalling €1.2bn (68%), for 86 developments supporting 6,499 homes where construction is in progress or has completed. HBFI typically expects a time lag of between 3 and 6 months between a loan being approved and its first drawdown.
Individual loan facilities range from €1m to €108m, with an average size of €13m. These facilities are for an average term of 22 months.
HBFI Progress Update
Today’s progress update shows that, as at the end of December 2023, HBFI’s key metrics compared to June 2023 and December 2022 were as follows:
December 2023 |
June 2023 |
December 2022 |
|
Approvals |
€1.656bn |
€1.437bn |
€1.248bn |
No of units supported |
8,495 |
6,357 |
5,717 |
No of developments |
129 |
117 |
99 |
Average facility size |
€13m |
€12m |
€13m |
Average development size |
66 units |
54 units |
58 units |
HBFI Chief Executive Dara Deering said:
“We’ve funded significant quantities of new homes for owner-occupiers, renters and people who need social or affordable housing.
Over our 5 years in business, we’ve evolved to quickly address emerging gaps in the funding market. We’ve also rolled out tailored, flexible, and competitive products to suit small, medium, and large housebuilders and we can now fund developments of any size from 5 units upwards.
We will continue to work closely with stakeholders across the sector to accelerate the delivery of even more new homes.”
The Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath TD, said:
“HBFI was established in 2019 as a targeted Government initiative to address a shortfall of finance available for the construction of residential housing.
Through its broad product range, and agile business model, HBFI has responded to emerging funding gaps in the market and plays an important role in the Government’s strategy to increase the supply of new homes of all tenure types, across all areas of the country.
In its five years, HBFI has supported the development of 8,495 homes in 129 developments in 22 counties. This has made a significant contribution towards meeting the Housing for All output targets.
The Government remains committed to driving the development of new homes and to supporting homebuilders in accessing the finance they need. We will continue to support the team at HBFI as it further builds upon the positive impact is has had in the market over the past five years.”
Measures announced by HBFI to support improved housing supply
Since its establishment HBFI has announced a number of initiatives to support small, medium and large housebuilders:
- In the early weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic, HBFI launched a new €200m (subsequently extended to €300m) Momentum Fund for large developments in prime locations. This fund is now closed for new applications.
- In 2020, extending HBFI’s existing offering to include more large-scale housebuilding firms, by doubling the upper limit for individual HBFI loans from €35m to €75m with an ability to increase further, for qualifying schemes under HBFI’s normal assessment criteria.
- In 2020, extending HBFI’s existing offering to include smaller housebuilding SMEs, reducing the previous minimum size requirement of 10 units to 5 units.
- A product specifically aimed at social housing with reduced fees, acknowledging the reduced risk once the units are completed.
- In 2021 a new Green Loan product was launched offering discounted loan rates for qualifying developments that promote sustainable housing delivery.
- In 2023, HBFI, in response to a recommendation in the Minister for Finance’s review of the organisation, launched a new product, Accelerate, for larger developers who may be constrained in raising additional finance, and has already concluded its first transaction using this product.
- HBFI has continued to engage extensively with the market during 2023, running 8 regional events for builders across Ireland (Cork, Drogheda, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Limerick, Portlaoise and Sligo). This will continue in 2024 with events planned for Donegal, Dundalk and Limerick in the first half of the year.
About HBFI
- Established under the Home Building Finance Ireland Act 2018.
- Commenced operations on 28th January 2019.
- Initial funding capacity of €730 million made available by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), which is recycled as early loans are repaid, freeing up capacity for new lending
- A private company with its own Board operating on a commercial basis, wholly owned by the Minister for Finance.
- HBFI is subject to State Aid rules and audited by the Comptroller & Auditor General.
Counties in which HBFI is funding new homes
Carlow |
Dublin |
Laois |
Monaghan |
Wexford |
Cavan |
Galway |
Limerick |
Offaly |
Wicklow |
Clare |
Kerry |
Louth |
Tipperary |
|
Cork |
Kildare |
Mayo |
Waterford |
|
Donegal |
Kilkenny |
Meath |
Westmeath |
Composition of HBFI-funded homes
Total |
Owner-occupiers |
Private Rental |
Social Housing / Affordable |
Part V |
|
Houses |
6,155 |
4,144 |
50 |
1,711 |
250 |
Apartments |
2,340 |
132 |
1,110 |
947 |
151 |
Total |
8,495 |
4,276 |
1,160 |
2,658 |
401 |
47.0% |
16.7% |
30.5% |
5.8% |
||
% Houses |
72% |
||||
% Apartments |
28% |