Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund Call 1 Scheme Outline

The Governments new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030, announced a new 1 Billion Euro Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund (HIIF), aimed at supporting direct investment in infrastructure needed to unlock the development of housing sites in towns and cities nationwide.

This is the largest housing infrastructure fund announced in Ireland for many years and forms part of a broader suite of land activation measures included in the plan to support the Government’s target to construct 300,000 homes by the end of 2030.

The Housing Activation Office (HAO) in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (the Department) will manage the Fund. Delivering Homes, Building Communities, highlights that for the HAO to succeed, it is imperative that funding is available to unlock the delivery of key infrastructure projects.

The HIIF will support direct investment in infrastructure needed to unlock the development of housing in towns and cities nationwide.

It will complement investment by other Government Departments and infrastructure agencies that have received funding under the updated National Development Plan 2025-2035 to support housing growth, as part of a more coordinated approach. This will ensure that lands identified and prioritised for investment are serviced and that housing can be delivered at these locations. It will also work in parallel with the Urban Regeneration and Development and Rural Regeneration and Development Funds, which will continue to support regeneration and community development.

The HIIF will fund public infrastructure projects to unblock infrastructure delays arising from projects not covered under the capital investment plans of other Departments and agencies, and to unlock lands identified for housing development under the relevant development plan.

Given the urgent need to unblock infrastructure delays to enable housing development, Call 1 will focus on known obstacles to the early delivery of housing. It is clear from stakeholder engagement that an immediate funding stream will accelerate the delivery of infrastructure projects that have progressed through design and planning stages and can support the early delivery of housing. Local authorities and the Land Development Agency (LDA) have highlighted transport, water, electricity and other infrastructure projects that require a funding commitment to progress to construction stage. The projects identified have the potential to accelerate the delivery of several thousand social, affordable and private housing units.

The intention of Call 1 is to accelerate projects that are at an advanced stage of planning and design, and can move to tender and construction. Call 1 will invite applications from local authorities and the LDA seeking grant funding to support the delivery of infrastructure projects that can commence construction in 2026 or 2027 and be substantially complete by 2028.

The Call for applications will open on Wednesday 21st January 2026 and applications will be accepted to midday on Friday 27th February 2026.

The Department will continue to develop the Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund after Call 1, and intends to broaden the approach in 2026 to include a wider range of delivery approaches, a broader range of public and private sector delivery partners and longer-term, larger and more complex infrastructure projects. The criteria of the fund are also likely to evolve over time having regard to the infrastructural needs of the country, sectoral capacities to deliver infrastructure and housing, and changes in the broader policy and legislative landscapes nationally and at an EU level. The primary aim is to build a programme of investment with projects at different stages and that addresses obstacles to the delivery of housing.

The key criteria under Call 1 are as follows:

(a) Funding Available:

• Having regard to the need to support delivery of infrastructure projects that can activate early housing delivery – a sliding scale of up to 100% of total project cost (future spend) will be provided under Call 1.
• The provision of up to 100% funding is particular to Call 1 and a response to the emphasis on quick delivery under this call.
• Under future calls, other complementary funding sources may be required alongside the HIIF to reflect the ancillary benefits to commercial entities and benefits that extend beyond housing activation.

(b) Eligible Applicant:

• The application must be made by a local authority; or by the Land Development Agency (and the relevant local authority), as the sponsoring agency for the project1;
• The application must involve a local authority or the LDA building public infrastructure, for the benefit of the public, on lands that are within the ownership of the local authority or LDA, or will be acquired for that purpose.

(c) Eligible Infrastructure

• The application must relate to public infrastructure that enables housing development. The infrastructure that can be applied for includes:
  • Transport Infrastructure,
  • Water Infrastructure,
  • Electricity Infrastructure, and
  • Other Infrastructure2 - needed to enable housing development and as identified in the relevant statutory development plan / local area plan.
• The applicant must demonstrate that the project will activate the early delivery of housing development at a suitable scale (relative to the context).
• The project must have a delivery timeframe for substantial completion of the works in 2026, 2027 or 2028.

(d) Costs and Deliverability Timelines

• The application must include evidenced based information to support project cost projections. The information should set out detail of the expected cost profile over each year.
• The application must provide project information to support the proposed timescales – including detail of the project team and programme management timelines.
• Further information will be sought where queries arise over costs or timeframes.

Note: Local authority applications may include project management costs that are reasonable and proportionate to the scale of the project.

1 Under the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (DPEIPSRD) Infrastructure Guidelines 2023, the Sponsoring Agency has primary responsibility for evaluating, planning and managing public investment projects within the parameters of the Infrastructure Guidelines.

2 Note, this does not include funding of buildings.

(a) Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility criteria set out in Table 5.1 below must all be satisfied for a proposal to be eligible for consideration under Call 1.

(b) Assessment Criteria

Each eligible application will be assessed and ranked based on the criteria set out in Table 5.2, and funding prioritised on this basis. It is expected that the volume of projects under Call 1 will not exceed the capacity of the scheme. Nonetheless, it will be necessary to assess each application to ensure that projects are suitable for the scheme.

Projects will be ranked by a ‘HIIF Evaluation and Oversight Group’ with representation from DHLGH and other relevant Departments and agencies. They will review the applications and make recommendations to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in relation to the suitability of funding for projects, having regard to funding availability. Funding will be allocated in line with the ranking and with regard to the level of funding available.

The HIIF will work in parallel with other schemes of the Department, and other Government Departments and agencies.

In terms of Governance, all public infrastructure projects funded through the HAO will be evaluated, planned and managed in accordance with the Infrastructure Guidelines, 2023 (or any update to same).

(3) Benefitting lands refers to the lands that are directly unlocked for housing development because of the provision of infrastructure funded through the HIIF. Benefitting lands will generally be adjacent to the infrastructure project.

(4) Where an infrastructure project funded by the HIIF has the potential to support housing development beyond lands that benefit directly – for example at a settlement level – this will be considered a multiplier effect.

Making the Application:

• Applications will be accepted until midday on Friday 27th February 2026 – via the official application form – see circular letter for details.
• Clarification of Submission - To assist in the examination of an application, the HAO may ask applicants to clarify detail in the application or to submit additional detail - either in writing or by interview. The HAO may request further information at any time and in relation to any element of a submission.
• Confidential Information – if an applicant considers that any of the information supplied in its application should not be disclosed because it is confidential, the Proposer should, when providing the information, identify that information as “confidential”. The HAO shall not disclose confidential information, save as required by law.

Terms of the Fund

• Successful applicants will be required to enter into a funding agreement with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage that will set out the terms and conditions of the grant funding.
• Funding may be withdrawn for projects that do not advance to construction by end 2027 (even where the delay is unforeseen), as it will be necessary to allow other projects to come forward. Projects that are delayed can re-apply at a later stage, subject to funding availability.

Queries

• Queries on any aspect of the Scheme may be submitted to HIIFapplication@housing.gov.ie. If the query is considered general in nature the response may be issued to all eligible applicants. For this reason, queries should not be submitted after 12 noon on Friday 20th February 2026.
• All queries in relation to the Call submitted after the closing date should be directed to the Housing Activation Office email address: HAO@housing.gov.ie.
• Where a query and/or response relates to a confidential aspect of its proposed application it may be marked as such.

You can download the Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund Call 1 scheme outline below: