Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 April 2024
685. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average cost of affordable homes delivered in 2023 under the Affordable Housing Fund (total cost and AHF cost), the Cost Rental Equity Loan (total cost and CREL cost) and LDA cost rental. [15001/24]
View answerHousing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the nine year period of the plan to 2030. This includes the delivery of 54,000 affordable homes to be facilitated by local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), the Land Development Agency (LDA) and through First Home, which is a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.
To date, over 5,700 affordable housing solutions have been delivered, supported by the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF), the Cost Rental Equity Loan, Project Tosaigh and the First Home Scheme. This momentum will continue as the pipeline of affordable housing delivery is developed and expanded by our delivery partners, including local authorities, AHBs, the LDA, and First Home.
Data for affordable housing delivery is published on a quarterly basis, similar to social housing delivery. This data is published up to Quarter 4 2023, including AHB and LDA cost rental delivery, and is available on my Department's website:
www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/#affordable-housing-delivery.
A total of 521 homes were delivered by local authorities with AHF assistance during 2023 as affordable homes for purchase or for cost rental by eligible applicants.
Cost information on the delivery of affordable homes through the various construction streams, is collated at development/project level rather than at individual housing unit level.
The cost of delivering new homes is dependent on a range of variables, such as the location, the scale of the development and the size and type of the homes involved.
The level of subvention provided from the AHF towards the capital cost of an affordable purchase or cost rental home varies having regard to factors such as density of affordable homes per hectare achieved and the location of the development. Subventions ranging from €50,000 to €150,000 per home are provided, with the Exchequer cost representing 95% of the subvention and the remaining 5% coming from a Local Authority contribution. Housing delivery being supported by funding approved originally under the earlier Serviced Sites Fund is also progressing with funding comprised of 89% Exchequer contribution matched by an 11% Local Authority contribution. For the homes delivered in 2023 with AHF subsidy funding support, the average exchequer cost commitment per home is €78k.
Cost Rental homes supported by the Cost Rental Equity Loan, of which 286 were delivered in 2023 in twelve developments across five counties: Dublin, Kildare, Limerick, Louth and Westmeath. The average capital cost per unit was €365,935, with average CREL funding per unit of €150,641.
The LDA is also delivering Cost Rental homes under the Project Tosaigh initiative to unlock land with full planning permission that is not being developed by private sector owners. Funding to acquire homes is sourced from LDA access to up to €2.5bn of capital funding from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and its access to borrowings up to an additional €1.25bn. Detailed information on its cost rental delivery can be found on the LDA’s website at: lda.ie/affordable-homes/lda-cost-rental.
