One of the mechanisms available to local authorities to help them deliver affordable housing options is the Serviced Sites Fund (SSF). Under the SSF, €310 million is being made available over the 2019 to 2021 period to support the delivery of infrastructure on local authority sites, which will deliver over 6,000 affordable homes. This funding consists of €275 million Exchequer (or 89% contribution), and €35 million from local authorities (or 11% contribution).
The first call for proposals under the SSF in June 2018 was targeted specifically at 11 local authorities where it was identified that the greatest affordability pressures exist. I issued approval in December 2018 for funding for 10 infrastructure projects in Dublin and Cork, costing €43 million, which will support the delivery of 1,400 affordable homes.
Details of approved projects under the first call are set out in the following table.
Local Authority
|
Project/ Location
|
Total provisional cost of proposal
|
Provisional Exchequer grant amount
|
Provisional local authority contribution
|
Affordable housing potential
|
Cork County
|
Glanmire
|
€1,500,000
|
€1,335,000
|
€165,000
|
20
|
Cork City
|
Boherboy Road
|
€4,968,366
|
€4,421,846
|
€546,520
|
103
|
Cork City
|
Kilmore Road, Churchfield
|
€1,410,551
|
€1,255,390
|
€155,160
|
21
|
Dublin City
|
Cherry Orchard
|
€7,645,415
|
€6,804,419
|
€840,996
|
183
|
Dublin City
|
Balbutcher, Ballymun
|
€4,135,351
|
€3,680,462
|
€454,889
|
74
|
Dublin City
|
Sillogue, Ballymun
|
€3,975,000
|
€3,537,750
|
€437,250
|
83
|
DLR
|
Enniskerry Road
|
€4,537,576
|
€4,038,443
|
€499,133
|
50
|
Fingal
|
Church Fields, Mulhuddart
|
€11,000,000
|
€9,790,000
|
€1,210,000
|
753
|
Fingal
|
Dun Emer, Lusk
|
€1,500,000
|
€1,335,000
|
€165,000
|
74
|
Fingal
|
Hackettstown, Skerries
|
€2,198,667
|
€1,956,814
|
€241,853
|
49
|
Total
|
|
€42,870,926
|
€38,155,124
|
€4,715,801
|
1,410
|
The overall cost and timing of delivery for these projects is contingent upon the completion of planning and procurement in the first instance, and local authorities are working to achieve delivery as quickly as possible, with the first tranche of affordable homes expected to be delivered next year.
Following the first call under the SSF, and in order to target affordable interventions, local authorities were asked to complete financial/economic assessments of each of their sites to assess whether the provision of affordable homes is economically viable. Local authorities were also asked to assess the broader housing affordability within their area.
A second call for proposals under the SSF issued to 19 local authorities on 9 April 2019, based on the aforementioned economic assessments. The closing date for returns was 17 May 2019 and 31 submissions were received from 15 local authorities. These are currently being assessed by my Department and I intend to issue approvals under this second call in the coming weeks.