Construction has commenced on a new affordable housing development in Boherboy, Co Cork.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy visited the site over the weekend to turn the sod on the development.

The 153-home scheme is the first of its kind to be delivered under the Serviced Site Fund, which will see 2,000 new affordable homes available nationwide in developments which have been subsidised by the Government by the end of 2020.

The Boherboy homes will consist of 116 new energy efficient affordable units to buy; 24 two-bed units and 92 three-bed units. A crèche will also be developed on site as well as 37 apartments utilised for social housing.

This development is being made possible thanks to a grant of almost €5 million under the Serviced Site Scheme, which is operated by the Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government. The Scheme is designed to fund the servicing of the site, including upgrades to the nearby road network and local drainage services, which helps make the homes more affordable.

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An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: "The supply of new homes is steadily increasing all the time; we now expect about 22,000 new homes will be built this year and more than 50,000 new homes have been built over the last 3 years. As supply increases, we need to ensure we have new housing of all forms - home to buy, homes to rent, social housing for people on the housing list and, of course, subsidised affordable housing. We set up the Serviced Site Fund to increase the supply of affordable housing schemes and these are now becoming a reality around the country. By the end of next year, 2,000 new affordable homes – in developments subsidised by the Government - will be available, and that will ramp up further in the years ahead."

In launching the project Minister Murphy added: "The financial support provided by Government will allow the deliver at homes on this site at prices which range from €198,000 to €223,000.This project today is a real example of how the Government is delivering and helping people achieve the dream of home ownership."

The Government has initiated a number of supporting instruments such as the Local Infrastructure Housing Affordable Fund (LIHAF) and the Serviced Sites Fund (SSF) to help fund the cost of public infrastructure to ensure that more affordable housing development can take place on key sites in urban areas of high demand. Local authorities are embracing supports offered by Government by making the best use of the available funding to open up residential lands in their efforts to deliver new, affordable homes.

(CM/MH)