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Housing Schemes

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 September 2021

Tuesday, 21 September 2021

Questions (280)

Eoin Ó Broin

Question:

280. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of cost rental equity loan, CREL, funded cost rental homes that will be purchased and made available for tenanting in 2021; and the details of the location, unit size and costs of same. [44770/21]

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Written answers

Budget 2021 allocated €35m for a new Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) scheme, under which Government is making loans to Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) on favourable terms for up to 30% of the capital cost of new homes for Cost Rental. Following a Call for Proposals from AHBs in December 2020, a rigorous assessment process was undertaken by my Department and the Housing Agency.

In February 2021 I announced approval-in-principle for the CREL financing this year of 390 new homes at eight sites across Ireland, to be owned, managed and maintained by the Clúid, Respond, and Tuath AHBs. These projects are located in Dublin, the surrounding Greater Dublin Area, and Cork City, with each development delivering cost-covering rents for homes on average at least 25% below comparable open market prices.

The first of these CREL-financed homes, have been delivered by the Clúid AHB at Taylor Hill, Balbriggan, where tenants moved in to their new homes at the end of August. The 25 homes are owned, managed and maintained by the Clúid AHB, which they acquired with the assistance of a €2.4m CREL loan.

The cost-covering rents for these Taylor Hill homes are averaging 38% below comparable open-market prices in the area, ranging from €935 per month for a two-bed terraced house to €1,150 for a four-bed detached house, as per table below.

Average Comparable Market Rent

Cost-covering Rent

% Discount from Market Rent

2-bed terraces (x7) (77.8- 88.6m2)

€1,467

€935

36.26%

3-bed terraces, semi-detached and detached (x17) (102-120m2)

€1,729

€1,100

36.38%

4-bed detached (x1) (149.4m2)

€2,050

€1,150

43.9%

Clúid will also deliver 73 apartments next year at Lancaster Gate, Western Road, Cork City Centre, under the CREL scheme. The necessary financial and commercial arrangements in relation to this and the other CREL-financed projects are being completed by the AHBs concerned. When these arrangements are concluded, details of the other projects, including specific locations, housing typologies, and cost-covering rents, will be made public.

Delivery of CREL homes is subject to construction schedules which, together with housing projects more generally, were impacted by Covid delays at the start of this year. The initial timeframes submitted by AHBs were based on all efforts being made to deliver the homes as soon as possible. As AHBs sought to use CREL funding to allow developers to construct homes that may otherwise not have been delivered, the commencement of construction on these specific units was in most instances not possible until the lifting of relevant Covid restrictions.

Based on updated delivery timeframes from the relevant AHBs, the estimated additional Cost Rental homes over the next 6 months will be c. 170. These homes will be in addition to the 25 CREL-funded homes already occupied at Taylor Hill and the 50 Cost Rental apartments due for completion shortly at Enniskerry Road, and for which tenancy applications have already been accepted. The remaining homes will come on stream during 2022.

Just one year after coming in to office, this Government had introduced what is a brand new form of tenure in Cost Rental. It has placed Cost Rental on a statutory basis through the provisions of the Affordable Housing Act 2021, the first ever stand-alone affordable housing legislation in the State. It has established administrative provisions and provided the funds which has seen the first tenants already in long term and secure homes at up to 50% of the comparable market cost.

The Government recently confirmed plans to drastically increase delivery and the Housing for All Strategy is the most ambitious housing plan in the history of the State, backed up by an unprecedented financial commitment in excess of €4bn per annum. Over the period 2021 to 2030, it is intended that approximately 18,000 Cost Rental homes will be delivered by Local Authorities, Approved Housing Bodies and the Land Development Agency. In building to this scale and an average of 2,000 Cost Rental Units per year, the State will provide certain focused funding supports to help delivery partners provide rental homes that target affordable rents at levels in the order of 25% below market rents.

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