New Housing Plan Could See Kildare County Council Bidding Against First-Time Buyers

Sunday, 9 November 2025 12:55

By Martin Osborne - Head Of News

It's in a bid to tackle long-term homelessness, but it could result in the state competing with first time buyers for those homes.

A dedicated fund to buy second hand homes is expected to be included in the government's new housing plan.

It's in a bid to tackle long-term homelessness, but it could result in the state competing with first time buyers for those homes.

The plan is due to be published later this week.

The Sunday Times reports local authorities will be given financial incentives to meet their building targets.

There will also be new rules for approving social housing.

The government says the aim is to make homelessness “rare, brief, and non-recurring,” with a focus on reducing the time children spend in emergency accommodation.

The plan will also include measures to tackle dereliction and delays in housing developments, which one minister described as a “bonfire of bureaucracy.”

Separately, Kfm reported this week how in a bid to tackle housing shortages in Kildare, Kildare County Council is making a push to get housing sites moving, especially ones that have planning permission but haven’t been built.

From mid-November, the Council will invite developers and landowners to put forward sites with planning permission for at least five homes.

This applies to empty sites that were never started and housing estates that were begun but left unfinished.

The Council will look for proposals that can actually be delivered, judging them on location, design and whether the developer can realistically get the homes built.

Contracts will only go to projects that offer value for money and can show steady progress once work begins.

For developers, the move offers some form of financial certainty.

If selected, they enter a development agreement where the Council effectively becomes the guaranteed buyer, with stage payments made as construction progresses.

The Council says proposals will be judged on location, design, cost and the developer’s ability to deliver.

The programme forms part of its Housing Delivery Action Plan 2022–2026.