The Social Housing Strategy 2020, launched in November 2014, provides for an investment with a capital value of €300 million in social housing through the public private partnership model. In total the programme is expected to deliver 1,500 social housing units. PPP units take a minimum of 3 years to be delivered. To enable delivery to commence as quickly as possible, the PPP programme is being rolled-out in three bundles.
The first bundle of PPP sites which is to provide over 500 units in the greater Dublin area was announced in October 2015. The social housing is being developed at these six sites in co-operation with the local authorities in each area. Two of the sites are located in Dublin City with one each in South Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Louth.
Dublin City Council has been appointed to act as the lead local authority for the delivery of the social housing PPP Programme in respect of this first bundle. The delivery and governance arrangements for this bundle have now been put in place and the Project Board held its first meeting on 29 April 2016. The Project Board is chaired by the Chief Executive of the City Council and includes representatives of my Department, the National Development Finance Agency and each of the Local Authorities concerned (in this case, Dublin City Council, South Dublin County Council, Louth County Council, Wicklow County Council and Kildare County Council).
Site selection for the second bundle is close to finalisation with a third bundle to be finalised by end of 2016. The identification of sites is being overseen by a sub-group of the Finance Work Stream - a structure which operates as part of the implementation arrangement for the Social Housing Strategy 2020. This sub-group includes representatives of my Department, the Department of Finance, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the National Development Finance Agency and the Housing Agency.
The units to be delivered under the programme will use what is termed an ‘availability-based’ PPP model, in which a private sector company designs, builds, finances and maintains the social housing units in return for a ‘unitary payment’. The ‘availability based’ model being applied has been used successfully in Ireland for over 15 years to deliver roads, schools and courthouses. It involves the procurement of a consortium to design, build, finance and maintain, for 25 years, social housing units on sites provided by the State. The housing units are then handed over to the State after 25 years in a predefined, good quality condition. No expenditure has been incurred to date in respect of the PPP project.
The relevant local authorities will retain responsibility for tenant management during the contract period. Tenants allocated to PPP units are drawn, in the normal manner, from the local authority social housing waiting list in accordance with that local authority’s allocation scheme. The tenants are subject to standard arrangements as apply to other social housing allocations, including in respect of the charging of differential rent.
