Government opens €1bn housing infrastructure fund to fast-track construction-ready projects
New Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund targets transport, water and utilities to unlock housing delivery by 2028
21 January 2026 | 📧 editor@breakingground.news
The Government has formally opened the first call under its new €1 billion Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund (HIIF), aimed at accelerating housing delivery by funding critical infrastructure that is blocking development-ready sites across towns and cities.
The fund, announced under the Government’s housing plan Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025–2030, is the largest housing-specific infrastructure investment announced in Ireland in many years. It is a central plank of the State’s strategy to enable the construction of 300,000 homes by the end of 2030.
The HIIF will be managed by the Housing Activation Office (HAO) within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Its focus is on direct public investment in enabling infrastructure that is not already covered by existing departmental or agency capital programmes.
Under Call 1, the Department is targeting infrastructure projects that are already at an advanced stage of planning and design and can move quickly to tender and construction. Eligible projects must be capable of commencing construction in 2026 or 2027 and be substantially complete by the end of 2028.
Local authorities and the Land Development Agency (LDA) have identified transport, water, electricity and other housing-enabling infrastructure as key bottlenecks. The Department says the projects supported under Call 1 have the potential to accelerate the delivery of several thousand social, affordable and private homes.
In a significant departure from previous funding models, Call 1 allows for grant funding of up to 100% of eligible project costs. The Department describes this as a targeted response to the urgency of early housing delivery. Future calls are expected to require blended funding approaches, particularly where wider commercial or non-housing benefits arise.
Applications may be submitted by local authorities or by the LDA acting as sponsoring agency, with projects required to deliver public infrastructure on lands in public ownership or to be acquired for that purpose. Eligible infrastructure includes transport, water and electricity works, as well as other non-building infrastructure identified in statutory development plans or local area plans.
Projects will be assessed on a scored basis, with a minimum threshold of 40 out of 100 required to qualify. Assessment criteria include policy alignment with the National Planning Framework, housing activation potential, value for money measured on a cost-per-unit basis, stakeholder and third-party support, and climate-adaptive design. Housing output and value for money together account for 60% of the total score.
A cross-departmental HIIF Evaluation and Oversight Group will rank applications and make funding recommendations to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, with allocations made subject to overall funding availability.
The call for applications opened on Wednesday 21 January 2026 and will close at midday on Friday 27 February 2026. The Department has confirmed that funding may be withdrawn from projects that fail to advance to construction by the end of 2027, even where delays are unforeseen, in order to allow alternative projects to proceed.
The Department has indicated that the HIIF will evolve beyond Call 1, with future rounds expected to support a broader mix of delivery models, larger and more complex infrastructure projects, and greater involvement from public and private sector partners as capacity allows.
Queries on the scheme can be submitted to HIIFapplication@housing.gov.ie up to noon on Friday 20 February 2026.
