Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) are making an important contribution to social housing delivery, as envisaged under current Government policy. My Department operates a number of funding programmes that assist local authorities to work in partnership with AHBs to construct, purchase and lease new homes and make them available for social housing. One such programme that AHBs progress construction projects through is the Capital Advance Loan Facility (CALF)
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. 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 my Department.
There is a housing project comprising 40 high-quality homes for social housing use, that is being progressed by the AHB, Cluid Housing, in the location referred to, working in partnership with Dublin City Council. I can confirm that my Department issued a CALF approval for this Turnkey project in January 2021. This project is nearing completion and has an indicative completion date April 2021. As with all turnkey construction projects in the current COVID 19 climate, delivery programmes and timelines are under constant review.
My Department publishes a quarterly Social Housing Construction Projects Status Report, which sets out the continuing progress being made in advancing the national local authority and AHB new-build pipeline. The latest report, setting out the position at end Q3 2020, can be accessed at the following weblink:
https://rebuildingireland.ie/news/minister-obrien-publishes-social-housing-construction-status-report-for-q3-2020-2/.
