Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 February 2016
518. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the new social housing plan to guarantee up to 90% of income for private investors (details supplied); and to describe how this programme will be funded. [4071/16]
View answerFollowing from the Social Housing Strategy 2020, which was approved by Government and published in November 2014, a wide variety of developers, investors, financiers, Approved Housing Bodies and others expressed an interest in being involved in the provision or financing of social housing across the country.
In response, I established the Social Housing Investment Proposals Clearing House Group in March 2015 to examine and consider proposals and to meet with the companies, groups and institutions involved. The Clearing House Group comprised representatives from my Department, the Department of Finance, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Housing Agency and the National Economic and Social Council. The Chairperson was assigned by the National Asset Management Agency on a temporary basis at the request of my Department.
During the course of its work, the Clearing House Group received 25 proposals for funding social and affordable housing, using both existing mechanisms and new approaches. The Group reported to me in November 2015, and arising from its work a number of measures are being developed with a view to better facilitating private investment into social housing.
The Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme operated through my Department currently provides a means whereby properties can be built or bought by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) with the use of private funding and leased through AHB’s and Local Authorities, for the provision of social housing. This scheme is underpinned by a lease and other legal agreements which provide that rental payments are made by the State over an agreed long-term time period, typically 20 years, in return for which the housing unit is made available for social housing. Changes are now being proposed to this scheme to provide revised arrangements which serve to expand these mechanisms to facilitate larger institutional private investors to come into the social housing market.
The National Development Finance Agency is acting as financial advisor in respect of this work. The new arrangements arising from this process will also require to be tested to ensure that there is no negative impact arising from how they are viewed and treated in respect of the State’s General Government Balance.
