The Land Development Agency is to purchase privately-owned sites to build public and affordable housing.

The State agency was set up to build affordable housing on State-owned land; however, it is now also focusing on private sites.

In a statement, Land Development Agency (LDA) CEO John Coleman said the agency is seeking to “maximise every opportunity to deliver affordable housing”.

“As we continue to grow and maintain a steady pipeline of affordable housing, it makes sense to also look at potential opportunities involving the outright purchase of privately-owned land and we are now seeking expressions of interest from landowners in this regard,” he said.

“We believe it is possible to acquire sites in the country's main cities at costs that allow for the development of affordable housing, particularly in cases where we can deploy the LDA's expertise and experience at scale on projects that will deliver the right housing in the right place.”

Housing construction Ireland. Terraced houses in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland.

It means the LDA is now aiming to deliver homes through three pipelines – State-owned lands, the purchase of privately-owned sites and the purchase and completion of stalled of unviable housing projects through ‘Project Tosaigh’.

The agency will focus specifically on private sites that can move quickly towards construction.

The programme is open to all landowners but the agency is mainly interested in large sites close to Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford that already have planning permission for 200-plus homes.

The sites will be assessed according to specific criteria, including transport links, building cost efficiencies and sites close to existing State-owned land.