The Tánaiste Simon Harris TD and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne TD, have announced the first call for projects for the Government’s new Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund (HIIF).

The Fund will allocate €1b over the next five years to boost the delivery of public infrastructure projects that will unlock housing sites in towns and cities across Ireland.

The HIIF represents a major multi-annual commitment to unlocking serviced land at scale.  Administered by the new Housing Activation Office within the Department of Housing, it is the largest housing infrastructure fund announced in Ireland for many years.

It will support the construction of the public infrastructure needed to activate thousands of homes across towns and cities, forming a central pillar of the Government’s new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, and the target to deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030.

Today’s first Call for projects is now open to Local Authorities and to the Land Development Agency (LDA).  This Call is focusing on shovel-ready projects that can move quickly.

Launching the initiative, the Tánaiste said: “This €1 billion fund marks one of the most significant interventions in housing delivery in over a decade. Across the country, we see zoned land lying idle because the critical enabling infrastructure needed to support housing development is not in place.  This new €1b Fund will directly tackle this problem. By investing at scale now, we can accelerate home building and deliver the homes needed to meet the ambitious targets of our new Housing Action Plan.”

Explaining today’s call out for suitable projects, Minister Browne added: “Today, we are making our first call out for suitable projects. This Call 1 is deliberately designed to focus on projects that can move quickly and at scale. We want strong, deliverable projects that can hit the ground running and start unblocking housing delivery immediately. The Local Authorities and the LDA have told me that they have shovel-ready options at the ready, today we are asking them to apply for funding for those projects.”

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is continuing to develop the Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund, and intend to broaden the approach in early 2026 to include a wider range of delivery approaches, and a broader range of public and private sector delivery partners.

Minister Browne added: “While Call 1 is directly targeted at local authorities and the LDA, to get projects moving speedily, I want this fund to utilise all potential that exists. That is why I have written to industry representative groups today to seek the input of their members in relation to key opportunities to unlock barriers in towns and cities nationwide and on how the private sector can play a key role in doing this.  No opportunity will go unexplored and I hope to be in a position soon to make a second call for more projects.”

Follow Irish building magazine on LinkedIn for the latest news and updates