A new €300m fund is to be invested in social housing throughout Ireland, it has been announced.

The new investment programme jointly backed by the Housing Finance Agency and the European Investment Bank will target an additional 2,000 social housing units to be developed over the next three years.

The funding will be available to approved housing bodies for the upgrade and delivery of social housing.

Environment Minister Alan Kelly said: "This will give housing bodies access to finance at very competitive rates and facilitate quicker deliver of approximately 2,000 additional social housing units. Government is committed to ensuring that financially sustainable mechanisms are in place that can meet both current and future demand for social housing and ensure value for money for taxpayers.

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"The vision outlined in the government's Social Housing Strategy 2020 is that every household will have access to secure good quality housing suited to their needs at an affordable price and in a sustainable community. This new agreement between the EIB and the HFA represents very good progress in that direction and I strongly urge the Boards and Management of certified Approved Housing Bodies to grasp this opportunity and access this finance in order to help achieve the challenging targets set out in the Social Housing Strategy."

(CD/MH)