Irish bad bank Nama will build 20,000 homes by the end of 2020, said Irish finance minister Michael Noonan as he delivered the country’s budget.
The National Asset Management Agency will retain its current commitments and take on the additional role of the nation’s house builder in a programme that will cost €4.5bn (£3.3bn).
Some 95% of the new homes will be delivered in the Dublin area, and 12,000 of the projected total homes are already estimated to be funded and able to be developed by 2020.
Another 6,000 of the homes will be from existing stock which, while funding is already in place, will need asset management work completed before they are ready for sale.
Noonan said the move came because of a “market failure” in the ability to deliver new homes into the growing Irish economy.
The programme will see the Irish housing market deliver an average of 80 new homes a week over the next five years, with 100 sites being developed at any one time. The allocation of social housing will also increase, from €46m to over €414m.
The finance minister also announced a freeze on local property taxes across Ireland for the coming four years.
The budget also sought to encourage entrepreneurs by delivering a reduction in capital gains tax to 20% on all business asset disposals up to €1m.
Overall the Dail was told that the Irish economy continues to improve. Unemployment was expected to fall to 8.3% in 2016 from the current 9.5% with overall growth estimated to be 6.2% in 2015.
