Bank of Ireland increases available funding for housing to €2.5 billion

Bank of Ireland is increasing available funding for housing development to €2.5 billion by 2026. Within this, funding for social and affordable housing is increasing to €1 billion.

The Bank’s current available funding for housing development is €1.75 billion. Today’s announcement represents a 40% increase in funding available for home building, with the ambition to support the construction of 25,000 units of all types including houses and large and smaller scale apartment developments. As part of this package, available funding for social and affordable housing will more than double, from €400 million currently to €1 billion.

Gavin Kelly, CEO, Bank of Ireland Corporate & Commercial Banking said:

“The greatest challenge facing Irish society today is housing. The simple fact is that we need more. Our ambition is to play an even bigger role in meeting this challenge by investing more of our capital to drive more supply.

“While there’s a serious mismatch between supply and demand, we also need greater diversity in housing to support the evolving needs of our population. That’s why we are also aiming to more than double our finance for social and affordable homes, because we believe that everyone should have access to high quality housing.

“Bank of Ireland is currently funding construction in every part of Ireland and we are looking for more projects to finance. By reinvesting our profit back into the Irish economy we have more available funds to support more ‘shovel ready’ projects, big and small, to help deliver our future housing needs.”

Bank of Ireland is currently funding the development of c21,000 residential units across c.170 sites, including c3,200 units for social housing. The Bank has a dedicated property lending team that can provide advice and guidance to developers who are preparing to submit an application for funding. This can include guidance on the Bank’s lending criteria for quality, sustainable, and long-term housing solutions.

Recent projects include:

• McGrath Group Properties - 250 apartments in Palmerstown, Dublin 20. This mixed tenure development of new homes was completed during 2023.

• B&C Contractors Group - 197 housing & apartments scheme on Glenamuck Rd, Kilternan. These new homes are being sold to a mix of Social, affordable (cost rental) and private markets for delivery in 2024.