Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 December 2020
273. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount borrowed by approved housing bodies to fund the purchase of turnkey homes in 2019 and to date in 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39558/20]
View answerApproved Housing Bodies (AHBs) are making and continue to make important contribution to social housing delivery. My Department and local authorities administer a number of funding programmes to assist AHBs with the cost of building, buying and leasing new social houses, including turnkeys. All funding is conditional on the properties being made available to households on local authority waiting lists.
The Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) funding is capital support provided to AHBs by local authorities to facilitate the funding of construction, acquisition or refurbishment of new social housing units, including units acquired through the establishment of the Housing Agency Acquisition Fund. My Department can provide CALF funding of up to 30% for eligible projects. All proposals for CALF are submitted to my Department by AHBs for review, to ensure that each project complies with the terms of the CALF and that there are sufficient funds available. The balance of the project finance is sourced by AHBs from private sources, such as commercial lending institutions, pillar banks and the Housing Finance Agency, HFA.
AHBs and local authorities work closely on a local basis to plan and programme new social housing supply. This collaborative approach ensures that there is local authority support for a project prior to submission to my Department for funding approval.
My Department does not hold information on 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, is held by the relevant local authorities. The value and term of each loan varies by project.
In 2019, CALF expenditure on turnkeys, excluding Part Vs, as drawdown by the local authorities via my Department was €98.2 million. This included €8.3 million, which was offset against Local Property Tax Funding.
To date in 2020, €124.6 million of the monies loaned by local authorities to AHBs relating specifically to turnkeys, excluding Part Vs, has been claimed from my Department. This figure includes €22.5 million offset against Local Property Tax Funding.
Owing to the nature of the CALF scheme, unit delivery does not always arise in the same year as the expenditure being incurred and schemes delivered under phased programmes may cross a number of payment periods.
