Housing Progress and Housing Outcomes: Are They Moving Together?

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has published the first Mid-Year Progress Report on the implementation of Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025–2030, outlining the actions taken during the early stages of the national housing plan. The report is structured around the two strategic pillars—Activating Supply and Supporting People—and highlights measures including a €9 billion funding commitment for social and affordable housing, tax measures intended to improve development viability, legislative reforms, and planning initiatives aimed at increasing housing delivery and improving affordability. These milestones indicate that implementation is underway. However, implementation is only one measure of success. Equally important is whether these measures are contributing to the outcomes they are intended to achieve: improving affordability, ending homelessness, and strengthening housing security.

Although this is the first progress report under Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025–2030, the current Government has retained and expanded many of the housing policies introduced under the previous strategies. While it may be too early to assess the full impact of measures announced under the new plan, many of the underlying policy directions have been in place for several years. It is therefore useful to consider the Government's reported progress alongside broader housing indicators. The table below summarises a selection of housing delivery statistics alongside key indicators of housing outcomes.

The figures present a mixed picture. On the one hand, housing delivery has continued to improve. Housing completions exceeded 38,000, planning permissions increased, additional social housing has been delivered, and cost-rental housing has expanded. These are positive developments and demonstrate continued investment in increasing housing supply.

On the other hand, many of the indicators that directly affect households continue to move in the opposite direction. The number of people accessing emergency accommodation has continued to increase, notices of termination have risen sharply over the past year, the social housing waiting list remains substantial, residential property prices and rent prices continue to increase and remain significantly above both pre-pandemic and historical levels.

This contrast raises an important question. If housing delivery is improving and substantial public investment continues to be made, why are affordability and housing security continuing to deteriorate?

There is no simple answer. Housing policy takes time to influence market outcomes, particularly where reforms relate to planning, infrastructure and new housing supply. It would therefore be unreasonable to expect every initiative introduced under the new action plan to have an immediate effect.

Nevertheless, Ireland has now been implementing successive national housing strategies for almost a decade, including Rebuilding Ireland, Housing for All, and now Delivering Homes, Building Communities. Many of the current measures build on policies that have evolved over several years rather than representing an entirely new direction.

Against that backdrop, it is reasonable to ask whether the focus should now shift from measuring implementation to evaluating effectiveness. Completing actions, introducing legislation and allocating funding are all important milestones, but they are ultimately means to an end. The real test of housing policy is whether it enables more people to access secure, affordable homes.

The latest figures suggest that, despite measurable improvements in housing delivery, many of the outcomes that matter most to households remain under considerable pressure. As future progress reports are published, equal attention should be given not only to whether policy commitments have been delivered, but also to whether they are achieving the objectives they were intended to address.