Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 November 2020
355. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a value for money evaluation has been carried out with respect to leasing of social housing; if so, if he will publish same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36133/20]
View answerA spending review and analysis of capital and current expenditure on housing supports has been carried out by the Irish Government Economic & Evaluation Service (IGEES) staff within the Department of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, published in July 2018. This report focuses on the comparative analysis of delivery streams particularly related to cost effectiveness, including leasing. This report can be found at the following link:
https://igees.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/19.-Current-and-Capital-Expenditure-on-Social-Housing-Delivery.pdf
This Report found that the net present cost (NPC) of delivery through leasing varies nationwide and can, in specific areas, be above or below the NPC of delivery through construction or acquisition. There are a number of factors to consider, along with cost, when considering whether leasing is good value in the long term for the State, such as the overall mix of delivery, the speed of delivery, the quality and appropriateness of the accommodation, sectoral capacity and flexibility, the availability of capital and the availability of land.
While the Government's priority is to accelerate the social housing build programme, it remains the case that more homes can be provided by including leasing programmes, than could reasonably be expected to be delivered under construction and acquisition programmes alone.
