‘Housing for All 2.0’ delayed

The Government’s new housing plan, initially due to be published in July 2025, is still not formal policy as of late-October 2025.

The Government announced through the 2025 Programme for Government in January 2025 that there would be a successor plan to Housing for All, the previous government’s housing strategy which set high ambitions for increasing supply and reducing homelessness. It failed spectacularly with homelessness at a record high and housing supply decreasing according to the latest annual figures.

In June 2025, The Irish Times reported that senior government sources were claiming that the delay was due to the fact that multiannual funding could not be secured until the publication of the review of the National Development Plan. However, the NDP review has since been published and active for three months.

The latest rationale for the delay of the new plan’s publication is the legislation surrounding the review of rent pressure zones. However, the legislation which implements these reforms has also been presented to the Cabinet.

Likely new measures

While the details of the forthcoming Housing Plan have yet to be published, it has been widely reported that compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) are expected to play a central role in government efforts to tackle vacancy and dereliction. Census 2024 identified over 166,000 empty and derelict homes across the State, underscoring the scale of the challenge.

Government sources have suggested that the following measures are anticipated to feature in the plan:

• Expanding the use of CPOs to tackle vacancy and dereliction: It is understood that local authorities are to be given greater capacity to address derelict and vacant properties through enhanced use of CPOs. In cases where property owners fail to engage with regeneration efforts, councils would be encouraged to deploy CPO powers. Access to the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) is reported to be expanded to help finance such acquisitions.
• Reforming derelict site legislation: The Derelict Sites Act is anticipated to undergo significant reform, with the Revenue Commissioners expected to assume responsibility for enforcement and levy collection. Local authorities may be required to expand their derelict site registers and strengthen enforcement actions. Reports also indicate that a national register of derelict sites could be published annually, providing standardised data and mapping to enhance transparency and track progress.
• Reviving vacant homes: A key ambition of the plan is understood to involve returning up to 20,000 vacant homes to the housing market, supported by the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant. It is expected that the scheme would be expanded to include an ‘above the shop’ top-up grant and a new ‘expert advice’ grant, aimed at supporting the conversion of vacant commercial and upper-floor spaces into residential use.
• Starter homes and affordability measures: Reports suggest that the new housing plan will include a starter homes programme, backed by a multiyear investment worth several hundred million euro. The initiative is anticipated to deliver an average of 15,000 affordable housing supports annually through to 2031, promoting both home ownership and long-term affordable rental options. The Land Development Agency (LDA) is expected to have its remit expanded to play a greater role in delivering starter homes, while proposed adjustments to Local Authority Home Loan criteria would raise income and price thresholds in line with current market conditions.
• Strengthening the rental sector: The regulation of the rental market is anticipated to be reinforced through increased funding for the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), enhancing its capacity, resources, and IT systems. The Government is also reported to be recommitting to the development of a rental price register, aimed at improving transparency for tenants and landlords.
• Expanding cost rental: Finally, the plan is expected to reaffirm a commitment to growing the cost rental sector, expanding access to long-term affordable tenancies as part of a broader strategy to stabilise the housing market.

Analysis

These speculative proposals, however tentative in phrasing, betray a tacit admission. The Government appears to have effectively relinquished any serious ambition to resolve Ireland’s housing crisis.

The sheer scale of failure is laid bare in the numbers. Figures published in late-September 2025 show that a record 16,353 people (including 5,145 children) were housed in emergency accommodation, a figure that fails to capture those sofa-surfing or sleeping rough.

Meanwhile, the much-touted target of 40,000 new homes in 2024 was exposed as political hyperbole: only 30,330 were completed, a contraction of 6.7 per cent on the previous year. Sinn Féin and others have accused ministers of deliberately suppressing internal forecasts which warned that the 40,000 figure was unattainable; data that, had it been disclosed, might have altered the course of the election.

In this context, the new emphasis on minimally-effective compulsory purchase orders, derelict site registers, and tinkering to cost rental calls into question whether the Government is any longer serious about solving the housing crisis as it approaches its 11th year.