Tuesday 16th July 2018
Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI) has today (Tuesday) published its half-year update. HBFI was established in late 2018 as a new company to finance commercially viable residential developments within the State.
HBFI commenced operations on 28th January 2019 and has achieved a number of significant milestones to in its first five months;
Key points:
- Over 30 full funding applications received;
- €41m in funding approved to date, translating to 228 units;
- 92% of full applications made outside of Dublin;
- Projects range in size from 10 units to 73 units;
- HBFI has the ability to fund delivery of up to 7,500 units over a five-year period;
Commenting on the publication of the half-year update, Minister Donohoe said: ‘The Government is taking the necessary steps to ensure that Ireland has a fully functioning housing market and HBFI will play an important part in facilitating the achievement of this aim’.
“HBFI’s performance to date highlights these positive developments with millions of euro in funding already committed and hundreds of units moving to development stage in just five months of operations.
“Small and medium-sized developers will play a critical role in helping our national housing market get back on its feet, and I am pleased that the work of HBFI has already started to facilitate that ongoing recovery.”
Minister Murphy said: ‘This half-year update shows that HBFI is already playing a valuable role in providing development finance to enable new houses to be built across Ireland, addressing a situation that had, up to now, been affecting the ongoing recovery of our housing market’.
“Fixing our housing crisis will take time and effort, but vital national initiatives like HBFI go a long way towards redressing the balance and ensuring long-term stability.”
Michael Broderick, Interim CEO, said: ‘I am delighted to launch our half-year update, setting out the activities of HBFI over the past five months. We are progressing over 30 full applications and have approved over €40m in funding with the ability to deliver almost 230 units, as of 30th June, 2019’.
“These projects are located throughout the country and range in size from 10 units to 73 units and are already well advanced. We look forward to approving many more such projects from the very healthy pipeline of applications which we are currently processing, to address the lack of funding available to small and medium-sized developers across the country.”
Marie Collins, HBFI Chairperson, said:‘As Chairperson of the Board, I wish to acknowledge the achievement of the HBFI team in launching and successfully rolling out an initial €40m of commercial loans to home builders in recent weeks. Lending demand is driven by applications submitted by prospective borrowers and we are encouraged by the strong pipeline of projects currently being progressed through our robust due diligence.
“HBFI will continue to adapt and evolve to meet market requirements while playing an integral role in Government initiatives to address the shortfall in the supply of housing”.
About HBFI
- Established under the Home Building Finance Ireland Act 2018
- Commenced operations on 28th January 2019
- Has a fund of €750 million made available by the ISIF (Ireland Strategic Investment Fund)
- A private company with its own Board operating on a commercial basis, wholly owned by the Minister for Finance
- subject to State Aid rules
- Will be audited by the Comptroller & Auditor General
Ends