Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 December 2019
657. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the average unit price paid for social housing new builds, turnkeys and acquisitions for each scheme funded by his Department in 2018, in tabular form. [51168/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department worked closely earlier this year with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) on an Analysis of Social Housing Acquisitions which was published in August 2019 and can be accessed at the following link:
https://assets.gov.ie/25634/13fe4c4ec237489b9d3b6ebeea68332b.pdf
Providing an average unit cost for social housing is not necessarily straightforward. Unit costs vary substantially for many factors including for example the location, size, dwelling type and any special adaptation required.
The IGEES Spending Review also signalled, that "accurately estimating the extent to which a local authority or an AHB is achieving value when acquiring units is a methodologically difficult task. The determinants which impact upon the price of any one housing unit are many. Factors such as the size and quality of the unit, the number of bedrooms and the precise location of the unit play an important role, in addition to a variety of other factors, in determining market price. Furthermore, wider dynamics in the market such as the supply of available housing, the level of demand within an area and general price dynamics within the economy and housing market play critical roles. As such, to assess the absolute value achieved within each acquisition made would require econometric modelling to take account of these factors."
While the Spending Review looked primarily at acquisition, further analysis across all delivery programmes, are outlined in the table below.
|
Programme |
SHIPLA Build (inc. RAPID) |
SHIP Turnkey |
CALF Build |
CALF Turnkey |
Part V-LA |
Part V- CAS |
Part V CALF |
LA Acquisition |
CALF Acquisition |
Housing Agency Acquisition |
|
Average Cost 2018 |
€200,900 |
€239,200 |
€46,827 |
€45,136 |
€216,293 |
€185,000 |
€35,973 |
€189,294 |
€49,274 |
€57,069 |
It should be noted that for units funded under the Capital Assistance Leasing Facility (CALF), only the CALF loan amount approved, max 30% of total capital costs, are identified in the table as this reflects the exchequer capital costs. For comparison purposes the IGEES report outlined above noted that under the CALF programme, the average purchase price of a dwelling in 2018 was €193,470.
