Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O'Brien TD, today welcomed the announcement by Initiative Ireland and CUDA, the Credit Union Development Association, of their plan to launch a new social and affordable housing fund supported by the Credit Unions of Ireland. The fund aims to support the delivery of 10,000 new social or affordable homes over the next 10 years. Expected to launch later this year, the new fund will enable Credit Unions from across Ireland to avail of recent regulatory changes which empower the Credit Unions to lend to Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) through a regulated fund. Initiative Ireland, which specialises in funding social and affordable housing developments nationwide, will act as an Investment Advisor to the fund, sourcing and managing projects with Approved Housing Bodies. CUDA with membership of over 50 credit unions nationwide, which manage over €7 billion in assets, will lead engagement with member credit unions as a sub-adviser, with the expectation that the fund will deploy over €300 million per annum on behalf of Credit Unions to deliver over 1,000 new homes per annum. https://www.businesspost.ie/construction/credit-unions-back-300m-fund-for-social-and-affordable-homes-b403fb1d