Land Development Agency welcomes new Government funding and expanded role

The Land Development Agency (LDA) has today welcomed the Government’s provision of €2.5bn in new equity capital and the decision to expand the Agency’s role.

The funding has been announced as part of the Government’s Delivering Homes, Building Communities Action Plan and will allow the LDA to continue to ramp up its delivery of affordable and social housing and to further develop its housing pipeline and land portfolio.

The Agency is now in a position to deliver 14,000 new homes by 2029 across its two delivery channels – direct delivery on state-owned or acquired land and homebuilder partnerships (Project Tosaigh).

In 2026, the LDA is targeting the annual delivery of just under 2,000 new homes. Subject to planning, the Agency’s output is then expected to rise to more than 3,000 new homes annually by 2027.

The Government’s housing plan, which was launched at the LDA’s Donore Project, which will deliver over 540 homes in Dublin City, also announced a broadening of the LDA’s role to include:

• Delivery across a wider geographical area
• The strategic assembly of land from both public and private sources
• Investing in infrastructure delivery to unlock additional homes
• Playing a fundamental role in the Starter Homes Programme
• Working in partnership to deliver more homes across all tenures, including social and private
• Backing more Small and Medium Enterprise housing developers
• Supporting planning and delivery of new communities

Responding to the announcement, John Coleman, Chief Executive of the LDA, said:

“We welcome the Government’s provision of new capital, which will enable the delivery of thousands of new affordable and social homes across Ireland in the coming years. We already have an extensive project pipeline with more than 20 sites either under construction or advancing to construction, and we are continuously adding to our land portfolio through the strategic acquisition of new development sites that will allow us to significantly increase our output of affordable housing at scale.

“We are also increasingly working with local authorities to deliver new homes on their land and we are continuing to partner with private developers through our homebuilder partnerships. Our current activity and increased funding levels mean we are now well positioned to become the State’s largest producer of homes by 2028 and to deliver 14,000 homes between now and 2029. This level of delivery will add significantly to the homes being delivered by others in the State sector and by private developers. It will also create thousands of opportunities for would-be homeowners to buy a new home and for renters to secure a high-quality, newly-built and affordable home in thriving new communities.”

Cormac O’Rourke, Chair of the Land Development Agency added:

“The LDA has consistently sought to strategically expand its remit and broaden its role to respond to the current level of housing need. The Agency has grown over time to become an effective, scalable platform to deliver Government housing policy.

“The LDA l looks forward to taking on extra responsibilities for the delivery of additional affordable and social homes in more parts of the country. We welcome the Government’s decision to allow the LDA us invest in infrastructure development and to play a greater role in land assembly.”