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Social and Affordable Housing

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 January 2021

Thursday, 21 January 2021

Questions (128, 129)

Eoin Ó Broin

Question:

128. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average construction and all-in development costs for one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom social houses and one-, two- and three-bedroom social housing apartments delivered under the social housing capital investment programme, SHIP, in the past 12 months as distinct from the departmental expenditure ceilings for such units which was provided in an earlier reply, in tabular form. [2978/21]

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Eoin Ó Broin

Question:

129. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average construction and all-in development costs for one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom social houses and one-, two- and three-bedroom social housing apartments approved under the SHIP in the past 12 months as distinct from the Departmental expenditure ceilings for such units which was provided in an earlier reply, in tabular form. [2979/21]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 128 and 129 together.

The relevant details are being compiled and will be provided to the Deputy in accordance with Standing Orders.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51
My Department assesses, approves and records local authority social housing delivery on a project basis, rather than on the basis of individual unit types. As SHIP-funded construction projects by local authorities must, like all publicly-funded construction programmes, comply with the Public Spending Code and Capital Works Management Framework, my Department periodically issues Unit Cost Ceilings (UCCs) for each local authority area, for use as a key benchmark for the development and costing of scheme designs at capital appraisal stage. While not a record of actual delivery costs, UCCs are based on an analysis of returned data from tendered social housing schemes over an extended period and updated based on published tender index information as required.
To monitor tender cost trends and to inform the UCCs levels, my Department analyses the tender data for the construction cost element of new build schemes approved under the SHIP and CAS four stage approval processes for each unit type, where sufficient information is available to allow such costs to be extrapolated and where the information available is appropriate for comparison purposes.
Outlined in the tables below are average construction costs (incl. VAT) per unit type, recorded as part of the aforementioned analysis for projects tendered in each of the years 2017 to 2020.
The tables also set out the range of costs that make up this average for each unit type. The range of costs recorded vary, depending on design, location and on the level of abnormal requirements for each scheme, for instance existing site conditions, demolitions, service diversions and site access requirements. Abnormal costs are also separately identified in the tables below.

2017

Construction Costs* (incl abnormals)

Abnormal Costs

Average Cost Per Unit €

Range of Costs per Unit €

Average Cost Per Unit €

Range of costs per unit €

1bed house

155,177

132k - 193k

11,479

6k - 54k

2bed house

178,411

102k - 282k

14,381

1k - 54k

3bed house

190,887

104k - 276k

7,905

1k - 36k

4bed house

223,309

161k - 309k

10,909

4k - 28k

1bed apartment

178,523

109k - 232k

18,811

1k - 54k

2bed apartment

225,260

191k - 308k

12,760

5k - 41k

3bed apartment

330,376

330k - 330k

41,056

41k - 41k

* Construction Costs as shown, are derived from unit cost analysis and capture the construction cost element only incl abnormals (i.e. not all-in costs)

2018

Construction Costs* (incl abnormals)

Abnormal Costs

Average Cost Per Unit €

Range of Costs per Unit €

Average Cost Per Unit €

Range of costs per unit €

1bed house

169,184

109k - 250k

23,507

5k - 78k

2bed house

190,521

108k - 357k

21,412

1k - 78k

3bed house

218,039

125k - 514k

24,063

3k - 107k

4bed house

219,574

179k - 275k

16,358

7k - 41k

1bed apartment

258,057

126k - 370k

46,978

2k - 105k

2bed apartment

292,581

147k - 378k

58,999

3k - 105k

3bed apartment

302,579

182k - 421k

50,334

10k - 108k

* Construction Costs as shown, are derived from unit cost analysis and capture the construction cost element only incl abnormals (i.e. not all-in costs)

2019

Construction Costs* (incl abnormals)

Abnormal Costs

Average Cost Per Unit €

Range of Costs per Unit €

Average Cost Per Unit €

Range of costs per unit €

1bed house

189,320

144k - 208k

26,699

7k - 47k

2bed house

198,174

136k - 255k

20,022

4k - 58k

3bed house

226,455

131k - 346k

19,227

4k - 58k

4bed house

234,794

192k - 298k

19,510

4k - 58k

1bed apartment

291,762

129k - 354k

32,609

4k - 43k

2bed apartment

290,902

170k - 373k

26,249

4k - 43k

3bed apartment

323,407

232k - 398k

27,379

4k - 43k

* Construction Costs as shown, are derived from unit cost analysis and capture the construction cost element only incl abnormals (i.e. not all-in costs)

2020

Construction Costs* (incl abnormals)

Abnormal Costs

Average Cost Per Unit €

Range of Costs per Unit €

Average Cost Per Unit €

Range of costs per unit €

1bed house

185,246

139k - 237k

25,181

3k - 46k

2bed house

195,392

129k - 263k

25,115

6k - 66k

3bed house

214,076

152k - 342k

25,121

6k - 66k

4bed house

263,204

205k - 321k

41,527

19k - 66k

1bed apartment

197,087

169k - 269k

32,919

24k - 54k

2bed apartment

230,300

198k - 306k

16,882

7k - 54k

3bed apartment

N/A

N/A

* Construction Costs as shown, are derived from unit cost analysis and capture the construction cost element only incl abnormals (i.e. not all-in costs)
The above costs relate to the construction element of the all-in delivery cost. Other items that make up the all-in total include:
- Design/technical fees: Design fees vary from project to project, depending on the location, size and complexity of a scheme (and depending on whether design services are provided by a local authority in-house or via external appointment). As a guideline/indicator, design fee are generally expected to range between 7.5% to 12.5% of construction costs.
- Land cost: Land costs will vary significantly from project to project, depending on location and ownership status (i.e. land costs could vary from existing local authority land at no cost to land purchased at market value).
- Utilities: Connection fees for Irish Water, ESB, gas, etc. As a guideline/indicator, utility connection costs are generally in the order of €7k per unit.
- Other Costs: Other items that make up the all-in delivery cost can include site investigations/surveys, archaeological requirements, Percent for Art contributions - and will vary from scheme to scheme
To assist in policy development and to provide evidenced based data, in October 2020, the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, published an ‘Analysis of Social Housing Build Programme’ which examined the social housing build programme over the years 2016 to 2019 and considered issues such as Use of Build Delivery; Type of Units, Cost & Speed of Delivery and Cost Efficiency and Market Interaction. The IGEES analysis noted the range of average costs which highlighted the diversity of costs for delivery of new build units across different developments and locations. The paper is available at the following link: http://www.budget.gov.ie/Budgets/2021/Documents/Budget/Spending%20Review%202020%20-%20Analysis%20of%20Social%20Housing%20Build%20Programme.pdf .
I look forward to working with all stakeholders in delivering on the commitment in the Programme for Government to increase the social housing stock by over 50,000 over the next five years, with an emphasis on new builds, and to ensuring that local authorities are central to delivering housing. Since taking up office, this commitment has been my key priority and focus. This is evidenced in Budget 2021 which provides record funding for housing of €3.3 billion overall.
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