- Funding approved for 16,558 homes in 233 developments in 25 counties (67% houses, 33% apartments) to date
- Actively funding SME homebuilders, with 82% of funding approvals for loans of less than €20m
- Actively supporting homebuilders who face equity challenges, with 87% of funding approvals for projects with less than 35% equity contributions from the homebuilder
28 January 2026
Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI), set up by the Government to fund the delivery of new homes, has grown total loan approvals to €3.323bn at the end of December 2025.
This increase of 25% on the €2.666bn at the end of December 2024 demonstrates continued strong demand for HBFI’s targeted lending products, which aim to address gaps in the market faced by homebuilding firms – particularly SME homebuilders and those facing equity challenges.
At the end of December 2025, HBFI had approved funding for a total of 16,558 new homes in 233 developments, across 25 counties.
There has been strong demand for HBFI products from SME homebuilders, with 82% of approvals to date for amounts of €20m or less.
Additionally, 87% of loans approved to date cover more than 65% of the project costs, showing HBFI’s ability to support homebuilders that face equity challenges and need higher levels of debt to get their homes built.
6,812 HBFI-funded units have already been sold, with a further 4,099 contracted for sale or sale agreed as at the end of December 2025.
Of the €3.32bn approved, drawdowns have taken place in respect of facilities totalling €2.45bn (74%), for 152 developments supporting 13,246 homes where construction is in progress or has completed. HBFI typically expects a time lag of between 3 and 6 months between a loan being approved and its first drawdown.
Individual loan facilities range from €1m to €113m, with an average size of €14.3m. These facilities are for an average term of 23 months.
HBFI Progress Update
Today’s progress update shows that, as at the end of December 2025, HBFI’s key metrics compared to June 2025 and December 2024 were as follows:
End Dec 2025 |
End Jun 2025 |
End Dec 2024 |
|
Approvals |
€3.323bn |
€3.002bn |
€2.666bn |
No. of units supported |
16,558 |
15,186 |
13,186 |
No. of developments |
233 |
206 |
184 |
Average facility size |
€14.3m |
€14.6m |
€14.5m |
Average development size |
71 units |
74 units |
72 units |
The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Mr Simon Harris TD, said:
“The Government is determined to pull every lever at our disposal to deliver increased housing supply. Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI) is one more way the State can support delivery. I welcome HBFI’s end year results, showing 25% growth to €3.3 billion in funding provided to home builders, supporting the delivery of over 16,500 homes. It is positive to see a strong demand for HBFI products from SME homebuilders, with 82% of funding approvals for loans of less than €20m.
“A further new funding facility of €200 million will strengthen HBFI’s capacity to continue to provide funding where it is most needed. We need to help the SME sector to scale up activity to get to the level of house building our country needs and HBFI will continue to play an important part as we implement the Government’s housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities.”
The HBFI Chief Executive, Ms Dara Deering, said:
“Our performance in 2025 shows our heavy focus on supporting small and medium homebuilders and our strong appetite to help homebuilders that are equity constrained.
We are actively filling gaps in the market to improve these homebuilders’ access to finance and enable them to get funding and get more homes built.
With funding approved for over 16,500 homes to date across nearly every county in Ireland, HBFI continues to experience sustained growth at a time of acute demand for housing supply throughout the country.
Our consistent engagement with the market and our close relationships with homebuilders and other key stakeholders are key to what we do. Our pipeline is strong and we have ambitious plans to drive additional supply in the market in 2026 and beyond.”
27% increase in overall lending capacity
HBFI boosted its lending capacity by 27% during H2 2025 with a new €200m lending facility from Danske Bank. This is the first time HBFI raised market funding to complement its initial State funding of €730m from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).
It will use this extra capacity to fund a growing pipeline of homebuilding projects – particularly among SME homebuilders, where HBFI is increasing its focus in response to evolving market conditions.
It has been able to amplify its initial €730m credit line to generate a much higher level of approved funding, by recycling loans as they are repaid from the sale of completed homes. This allows HBFI to use repayments from earlier loans to fund new facilities with new borrowers.
HBFI continued to engage extensively with the market during 2025, running 5 regional events for builders in Cavan, Cork, Galway, Meath and Offaly, sponsoring and presenting at 6 IHBA roadshows as well as speaking at several other regional and national events. Further events are planned for 2026.
About HBFI
- Established under the Home Building Finance Ireland Act 2018.
- Commenced operations in January 2019.
- Initial funding capacity of €730 million made available by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), which is recycled as early loans are repaid, freeing up capacity for new lending.
- A private company with its own Board operating on a commercial basis, wholly owned by the Minister for Finance.
- HBFI is subject to State Aid rules and audited by the Comptroller & Auditor General.
- In July 2025, the then Minister for Finance published the third review of HBFI, as required under Section 24 of the HBFI Act, which found that its continuation remains necessary given prevailing market conditions. This review is now available on the Department of Finance website.
Composition of HBFI-funded homes
| Total | Owner-occupiers | Private Rental | Social Housing / Affordable | Part V | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houses | 11,020 | 8,024 | 50 | 2,466 | 480 |
| Apartments | 5,538 | 243 | 1,110 | 3,868 | 317 |
| Total | 16,558 | 8,267 | 1,160 | 6,334 | 797 |
| 50% | 7% | 38% | 5% | ||
| % Houses | 67% | ||||
| % Apts | 33% |
HBFI Year End Update 2025