Capital Advance Loan Facility (CALF funding is capital support provided to Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) by local authorities to facilitate the funding of construction, acquisition or refurbishment of new social housing units. This loan facility can support up to 30% of the eligible capital cost of the housing project, with the housing units provided to local authorities for social housing use under long-term lease arrangements known as Payment and Availability Agreements. A nominal interest rate of 2% fixed per annum is charged by the local authority on the initial capital amount. Repayments on either the capital or interest are not required during the term of the loan (between 10 and 30 years), although where an AHB chooses to, repayments can be made during the term. At the end of the term, the outstanding capital amount plus the interest accrued, is owed and repayable to the local authority. The local authority issues the CALF monies to the AHB and the local authority, in turn, recoups same from the Department. The remainder of the capital cost is sourced by the AHB through other borrowings, to which the local authorities are not party.
My Department does not hold the loan agreements under CALF, as the loan agreement, is between the local authority and the relevant AHB. Accordingly, information on the number and value of CALF loans, including the balance owning and associated due date, is held by the relevant local authorities. The value and the term of each CALF loan varies by project.
While my Department does not hold the loan agreements, the following is a table of CALF-related monies drawn down from my Department since 2016 by the various local authorities.
Tables