Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 November 2015
221. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which he may be in a position to provide a framework to fund the provision of local authority housing by way of Government development bonds, or by other means, in order to address the current housing situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.] [38807/15]
View answerIn November 2014 the Government approved the Social Housing Strategy 2020 which sets out a strategic framework for meeting the State’s social housing needs to the end of the decade. The Strategy includes a commitment to commence work on a financial vehicle, to be known as the Strategic Housing Fund, to raise funding for the social housing sector. The financial vehicle will be established to facilitate the aggregation of private investment into a fund for subsequent lending as project finance.
Work on the development of this new funding model is being progressed under the oversight of a group which has been put in place to develop the financial aspects of the Social Housing Strategy. This group - the Finance Work Stream - comprises a range of key stakeholders including the Housing Finance Agency, the National Development Finance Agency and the Departments of Finance and of Public Expenditure and Reform.
Arising from the opportunity offered by the Strategy, a range of developers, investors, financiers and others expressed interest in being involved in the provision of social housing. A protocol was put in place in March 2015 under the auspices of the Finance Work Stream to facilitate individuals and entities seeking to engage with the State to provide investment for the delivery of social housing. A single point of contact for submitting proposals was established - the Social Housing Proposals Clearing House Group - which operates through my Department, under the oversight of the Finance Work Stream.
To date 24 different proposals have been received and 20 of the proposers have presented their ideas to the Clearing Housing Group. The Group is currently in the process of concluding its work and bringing forward recommendations.
