Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI), which was set up by the Government to fund the delivery of new homes, grew its loan approvals to €1.16bn.

his marks an increase of 38pc from the €835m recorded at the end of 2021.

In the first six months of this year, funding was approved for 5,210 homes in 86 developments in 20 counties, including in counties Kilkenny and Limerick for the first time.

Social housing projects accounted for 23pc of the new homes approved for funding.

This period, the busiest ever for the fund based on approval volume, means that HBFI has now committed 58pc more than the originally €730m that was allocated three years ago when the fund was created.

715 HBFI-funded units have already been completed and sold. 1,783 are for sale or have sale agreed.

Of the €1.16bn of funding approved, more than 60pc of the total committed money has been draw down to date. According to HBFI, €737m was released, representing 50 developments totalling 3,229 units being build or completed.

HBFI expects a time lag of between 3 and 6 months between a loan being approved and its first drawdown.

Individual loan facilities from HBFI range from €1m to €94m, with an average size of €13m. Terms range from half a year to 2 years, with the average set at 22 months.

“We remain vigilant to risks such as construction price inflation, but we will work closely with the housebuilding firms we lend to in helping them address these challenges and continue adding to the supply of new homes,” chief executive Dara Deering said.