Home Building Finance Ireland

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Finance the amount loaned out by Home Building Finance Ireland to date; the estimated number of homes to be built; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI) was established in December 2018 to lend money to small and medium sized builders and developers for commercially viable residential developments, particularly those situated outside the State's major urban centres. HBFI has been provided with access to €750 million of funding from the Irish Strategic Investment fund, with which it is expected to facilitate the delivery of  7,500 units over the next five years.

Since its formal launch at the end of January, HBFI has engaged actively with small and medium sized builders and developers throughout the country through a range of market awareness raising initiatives.  As part of this, HBFI attended a series of workshops organised by the Construction Industry Federation  (CIF) and its constituent association, the Irish Home Builders’ Association (IHBA) that were strongly attended by small and medium sized builders and developers and generated significant interest in the work of HBFI.

Collectively, HBFI’s various engagement activities have resulted in a strong pipeline of interest from prospective borrowers. While no funding has been drawn down by borrowers to date, HBFI has approved its first lending facilities and is progressing a number of other applications through its credit process.   

HBFI will be in a position to publish information on its lending activities on a half-yearly basis with the first such report to be published in July 2019.