Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 December 2020
274. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 75 of 15 January 2019, the current status of the 1,400 affordable units; the expected completion dates and prices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39559/20]
View answerThe 1,400 affordable units referred to in the Question relate to the 10 projects that were granted approval in principle under the first Serviced Sites Fund (SSF) call.
There have been two SSF Calls for Applications to date and details of all SSF projects that received approval in principle under these calls, and the number of more affordable homes whose delivery will be supported by SSF funding are available at the following links:
Call 1: https://rebuildingireland.ie/news/minister-murphy-gives-the-go-ahead-for-ten-local-authority-sites-for-affordable-housing-under-the-serviced-sites-fund/
Call 2: https://rebuildingireland.ie/news/minister-murphy-approves-funding-of-e84m-to-support-delivery-of-1770-affordable-homes-under-the-ssf/
The first SSF project that will deliver affordable homes will be Boherboy Road in Cork City in early next year. The second in Enniskerry Road, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown will deliver the first Cost Rental homes in the State in Q3 2021.
It should be noted that SSF Approval in Principle is granted to local authority applications to fund facilitating infrastructure to allow the delivery of more affordable homes on its sites. In the main, following the Department’s approval in principal to grant fund these projects at the initial concept stage, local authorities then begin the process of detailed design, local consultation, the planning process and procurement thereafter, the nature and scale of the projects will generally evolve. This will generally lead to updates in the infrastructure specification, the SSF funding made available, the final number and type of homes that will be developed and the schedule for delivery. The majority of SSF projects are currently in this process.
The selling price of homes that will be made available for purchase under the local authority affordable dwelling purchase arrangements will be influenced by a number of factors which will vary significantly from individual development to development. This includes the overall development cost of each particular development the housing type/tenure mix involved and the local housing market. As the majority of the projects approved for funding under the SSF are at the planning and design stage, the final sales prices will not be fully determined until planning permission has been obtained and after the procurement process for construction of the development in question has been completed.
