DUBLIN 7 SEPTEMBER 2023: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien T.D., opened the Beauchamps Housing Conference, "Accelerate 2023", at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre.
Following the Minister’s keynote address, conference chair Fidelma McManus, Partner and Head of Housing at Beauchamps, was joined by key stakeholders from Approved Housing Bodies, state agencies, lenders, developers, home builders, and industry professionals to promote collaboration to accelerate the delivery of social, affordable, and cost rental housing at scale.
Panellists, including Declan Dunne, CEO, Respond; Kate English, Director and Head of Real Estate Research, Deloitte; John Coleman, CEO, Land Development Agency; and Donal O'Neill, CEO, Ardstone, outlined the positive actions being implemented at present to accelerate the delivery of mixed-tenure housing developments. All agreed that collaborative partnerships between the public and private sectors are crucial to fast-tracking housing supply.
A second panel session further examined the barriers to accelerated housing delivery, including funding, infrastructure, and planning. Rick Larkin, Executive Director of Twinlite; Dara Deering, CEO of Home Building Finance Ireland; Tony Reddy, Chairman of Reddy Architecture + Urbanism; and Niall Morrissey, CEO of Housing Infrastructure Services Company, joined Fidelma to discuss the positive actions needed to overcome such barriers and plan for sustainable growth in the medium and long term.
Minister O’Brien T.D., said: “I would like to thank Beauchamps for organising this event and for their contribution to the housing sector. Under Housing for All the delivery of sustainable communities is a key focus for this Government. It is great to see that the focus of today’s Conference is on “supercharging the delivery of mixed tenure housing” as this will help promote and build more sustainable communities. To support Local Authorities in achieving this objective, a newly formed Mixed Tenure Section has been established within my Department, which will oversee these developments across the lifecycle of the affordable and social housing funding programmes.”
Speaking about the conference, Fidelma McManus said, "We wanted to take stock of market sentiment in light of recent government initiatives and emphasize the opportunities available and collaborative actions necessary to supercharge the delivery of social, affordable, and cost rental housing. We saw this as a timely opportunity to bring together public and private thought leaders, as well as industry experts, to consider how we can eliminate the barriers to the delivery of true mixed-tenure housing at scale. The impact of bringing the right industry leaders together far exceeded our expectations."
Attended by over 350 delegates, the conference was organised by Beauchamps on the back of reform to the CALF funding model, the launch of Croí Cónaithe, the new STAR investment scheme, income threshold increases for cost rental, and increased delivery of mixed-tenure projects.
Pictured (l-r): Declan Dunne, CEO, Respond; John Coleman, CEO, Land Development Agency; Tony Reddy, Chairman, Reddy Architecture + Urbanism; Rick Larkin, Executive Director, Twinlite; Conference chair Fidelma McManus, Partner and Head of Housing, Beauchamps; Minister Darragh O'Brien T.D; John White, Managing Partner, Beauchamps; Dara Deering, CEO, Home Building Finance Ireland; Donal O'Neill, Founding Shareholder and CEO, Ardstone; Kate English, Director & Head of Real Estate Research, Deloitte; and Niall Morrissey, CEO Housing Infrastructure Services Company.