Thomas Gould
Question:379. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average cost of building a one-bedroom apartment. [25811/23]
View answerTuesday, 30 May 2023
Questions (379)
Written answers
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 Social Housing Investment Programme (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 Basic Unit Costs (previously referred to as Unit Cost Ceilings) 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, BUCs are based on an analysis of returned data from tendered social housing schemes.
To monitor tender cost trends and to inform the BUCs levels, my Department analyses the tender data for the construction cost element of new build schemes approved under the SHIP 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 table below is average construction costs (incl. VAT) for a one-bedroom apartment, recorded as part of the aforementioned analysis for projects tendered in 2022 (and 2023 to date). The table also sets out the range of costs that make up this average. The range of costs recorded vary, depending on design, location and on the level of abnormal requirements for each scheme (e.g. existing site conditions, demolitions, service diversions and site access requirements). Abnormal costs are also separately identified in the tables below.
|
2022 and 2023 to date |
Construction Costs (incl. abnormals) |
Construction Costs (incl. abnormals) |
Abnormal Costs |
Abnormal Costs |
|
Average Cost Per Unit € |
Average Cost per Unit € |
Range of Costs Per Unit € |
Average Cost per unit € |
Range of Costs Per Unit € |
|
1bed apartment |
309,950 |
198k - 384k |
36,784 |
15k - 62k |
* 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.
It is understood by all involved in advancing social housing projects that a range of factors can impact on the costs for individual projects. Project-specific issues will always arise and will be central to how a project can be advanced and the costs for same. These factors are part of the regular engagement that happens between my Department and local authorities/AHBs which is focused on facilitating the earliest possible delivery of new social homes that are both high quality and value for money. To that end, as well as sharing BUCs with local authorities, my Department has previously shared outline specifications for new social housing and has also recently issued a new 'Design Manual' which will guide local authorities, AHBs and their Design Teams/consultants, on the design of social housing site layouts and the internal layouts of individual social homes.