Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 March 2018
655. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the status of Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund, LIHAF, funding and the associated below-market-value housing to be provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14189/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs a key initiative of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund, LIHAF, is designed to fund the provision of public off-site infrastructure to relieve critical infrastructure blockages and enable housing developments to be built on key sites at scale. Funding of €200 million was originally provided under LIHAF, of which €150 million is funded by the Exchequer and local authorities fund €50 million. Further funding was made available as part of Budget 2018, bringing the total fund to €266 million and there will be a second call for proposals in order to allocate the additional funds.
The total cost of the 34 projects which received preliminary approval under LIHAF in March 2017 was €226 million. When approving proposals, it was considered prudent to approve in excess of €200 million available at the time to allow for instances where a proposal does not proceed due to planning issues or unforeseen delays or where potential savings are secured through tendering or other efficiencies.
As required under the scheme criteria and conditions, a key focus has been to ensure that there is a proportionate dividend for the State’s investment in infrastructure, as demonstrated by either provision of housing at scale at certain prices, a proportionate reduction in house prices across all of the homes being facilitated or a specified number of homes which will benefit from a larger price reduction.
To date, I have given final approval for 30 of the 34 original projects under LIHAF, which will activate supply of almost 20,000 housing units on previously inactive sites, and grant agreements in respect of those projects have been signed. The cost of these projects is €195.7 million, of which €146.7 million will be funded by my Department and €49 million will be funded by local authorities. The remaining four projects are being moved for consideration under LIHAF 2 later in 2018. Summary information on the approved projects will be published shortly, including details of the scale of reduced-price homes being facilitated on these sites as part of the dividend for the funding.
Funding of €1.67 million was drawn down in respect of LIHAF projects in 2017, which was mainly in respect of design costs. It is expected that this will increase substantially in 2018 as projects move to the construction stage. Funding for LIHAF is ring-fenced within the overall housing budget and will be available for local authorities to drawdown over the lifetime of the projects involved. Through proactive management of the broader housing programme, the LIHAF underspend in 2017 was diverted to other housing activities, ensuring that the funding available in 2017 was fully applied to housing priorities.
