- Funding approved for 13,186 homes in 184 developments in 23 counties (64% houses, 36% apartments) to date
- 47% of HBFI-funded homes are for owner-occupiers, 40% for social/affordable housing, 4% Part V and 9% for renters
- Over €1bn new approvals in 2024 more than double the level approved in 2023 (€1.01bn vs €408m)
- 8,026 HBFI-funded homes are either already sold, contracted for sale or sale agreed
29 January 2025
Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI), set up by the Government to fund the delivery of new homes, has grown total loan approvals to €2.7bn at the end of December 2024, an increase of 61% on the €1.66bn at the end of 2023.
HBFI’s 2024 performance update, published today, shows demand for HBFI funding and the momentum in commencement activity across the market was strong throughout 2024, with total new loan approvals of €1.01bn over the course of the year, more than double the €408m approved in 2023. HBFI’s pipeline of potential new developments is positive moving into 2025.
At the end of December 2024, HBFI had approved funding for 13,186 new homes in 184 developments across 23 counties.
4,618 HBFI-funded units have already been sold, with a further 3,408 contracted for sale or sale agreed as at the end of December 2024.
Of the €2.7bn approved, drawdowns have taken place in respect of facilities totalling €1.9bn (72%), for 117 developments supporting 10,375 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 €113m, with an average size of €14.5m. These facilities are for an average term of 23 months.
HBFI Progress Update
Today’s progress update shows that, as at the end of December 2024, HBFI’s key metrics compared to June 2024 and December 2023 were as follows:
December 2024 |
June 2024 |
December 2023 |
|
Approvals |
€2.666bn |
€2.054bn |
€1.656bn |
No of units supported |
13,186 |
11,200 |
8,495 |
No of developments |
184 |
162 |
129 |
Average facility size |
€14.5m |
€13m |
€13m |
Average development size |
72 units |
69 units |
66 units |
HBFI Chief Executive Dara Deering said:
“We continued to make a valuable contribution to accelerating Ireland’s housing supply meaning to date we have funded over 13,000 new homes in 23 counties for owner-occupiers, renters and people who need social or affordable housing.
By offering an expanded range of products, we saw a significant increase in our new loan approvals to over €1bn over the course of the year when commencement activity across the market was also really strong.
We’re recycling capital to leverage the impact of the capital at our disposal to lend to small, medium and large housebuilding companies to improve supply as much as we can.
We will continue to engage with the market and our wider stakeholders to identify and respond to emerging funding gaps to support the delivery of much needed new homes.”
The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, said:
“I welcome the publication of HBFI’s end of year results for 2024, which shows that HBFI has approved funding of €2.7 billion since its establishment, supporting the delivery of over 13,000 homes.
HBFI was established to increase the supply of finance for commercially viable developments, by responding to gaps in the funding market and supporting the construction of new homes across the country.
The agility of HBFI’s business model has seen the organisation respond to emerging gaps in the market through an expansion of its products which can support small, medium and large housebuilders in developing both houses and apartments across all tenure types – for owner occupier, rental, affordable and social housing.
With over €1 billion of funding approved in 2024 across 23 counties, it is clear that HBFI is playing an important role in supporting increased housing delivery.
The Government will continue to support the development of new homes across the country, including through ongoing engagement with the team in HBFI as they facilitate homebuilders in accessing finance for commercially viable homes.”
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.
- Extending HBFI’s existing offering to include more large-scale housebuilding firms, by doubling the upper limit for individual HBFI loans to €100m 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.
- HBFI has continued to engage extensively with the market during 2024, running 6 regional events for builders across Ireland (Athlone, Donegal, Dundalk, Limerick, Tralee and Waterford). This will continue in 2025 with events planned for Cavan, Cork and Dublin 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 €730m 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 |
Westmeath |
Cavan |
Galway |
Limerick |
Offaly |
Wexford |
Clare |
Kerry |
Louth |
Sligo |
Wicklow |
Cork |
Kildare |
Mayo |
Tipperary |
|
Donegal |
Kilkenny |
Meath |
Waterford |
Composition of HBFI-funded homes
Total |
Owner-occupiers |
Private Rental |
Social Housing / Affordable |
Part V |
|
Houses |
8,409 |
5,841 |
50 |
2,202 |
316 |
Apartments |
4,777 |
375 |
1,110 |
3,049 |
243 |
Total |
13,186 |
6,216 |
1,160 |
5,251 |
559 |
47% |
9% |
40% |
4% |
||
% Houses |
64% |
||||
% Apartments |
36% |
HBFI CEO Dara Deering provides an update on Home Building Finance Ireland's progress to end of December 2024