I propose to take Questions Nos. 450 to 452, inclusive, together.
Statutory responsibility for the making of agreements under Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2007 rests with the relevant planning authority.
An agreement under Part V may provide for, inter alia, the developer building and transferring completed houses to the planning authority. The number and description of the houses will be specified in the agreement and the homes will be transferred at a price determined on the basis of the site cost of the units, calculated at existing use value together with the building and development costs, including profits, as agreed between both parties.
It is open to a planning authority to accept fewer units at a lower cost price — in effect, cost subsidisation — so long as it achieves the equivalent monetary value which would have accrued had the agreement provided solely for the transfer of land. The housing yield under each Part V agreement is a matter for individual authorities to negotiate, having regard to the various considerations set out in legislation.
In the case referred to, the local authority has advised that the required equivalent monetary value due to it under Part V was secured. It is open to local authorities to further reduce the purchase price of affordable homes, where appropriate, from a value for money perspective, where this is necessary to continue to meet the needs of the target group concerned.