THE GOVERNMENT HAS announced a new €400 million investment in the country’s sovereign wealth fund towards the delivery of new homes.

The additional funding doubles the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund’s homebuilding investment programme equity to €800 million since it was first announced in July 2023.

ISIF, managed and controlled by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), is an investment fund with a mandate to invest on a commercial basis to support economic activity and employment in Ireland.

The government said a further €200 million in equity will be deployed by the National Banking Sector.

It said this will ”seek to scale existing products and develop additional solutions” to provide “much needed equity capital” to SME developers to enable the delivery of increased housing “across all tenure and dwelling types”. 

The new allocation will build on ISIF’s existing housing related commitments of €2.5 billion, targeting the delivery of over 25,000 new homes by 2030. ISIF is currently on track to achieve this target ahead of 2030. 

Tánaiste and Finance Minister Simon Harris said: “Together, this €600 million of equity capital will unlock up to €2 billion of finance for housing developments across the country, with the potential to deliver up to 5,000 homes.

“The commitment from the banks will increase the impact of ISIF investments and will also support a more sustainable long-term financing ecosystem for the Irish homebuilding sector,” he said. 

Housing Minister James Browne said the “significant injection” of funding will improve SME homebuilder’s ability to establish a consistent pipeline of projects and greatly assist in scaling up their housing output on a sustainable basis nationwide”.

He added that he is “determined” to create “the best possible operational environment for homebuilding”.

“Investment like this is crucial as we engage with all our delivery partners and stakeholders, both public and private, in further mobilising critical residential investment and development in Ireland now and into the future.”

Sarah Hickey, a senior investment director at Real Assets ISIF, said the €400 million commitment will build on existing progress, support new funding platforms, help more housebuilders and deliver more homes for people who need them.

“Isif’s capital will also continue to act as a catalyst for co-investment by other capital providers, making additional capital available for the sector to enable growth.”