Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 September 2020
96. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the cost of capital advance leasing facility units by local authority in each of the years 2015 to 2019; the cost of each unit by local authority for the same period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25778/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraCapital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) funding is capital support provided to Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) by local authorities to facilitate the funding of construction, acquisition or refurbishment of new social housing units. This loan facility can support up to 30% of the eligible capital cost of the housing project, with the housing units provided to local authorities for social housing use under long-term lease arrangements known as Payment and Availability Agreements. A nominal interest rate of 2% fixed per annum is charged by the local authority on the initial capital amount. Repayments on either the capital or interest are not required during the term of the loan (between 10 and 30 years), although where an AHB chooses to, repayments can be made during the term. At the end of the term, the outstanding capital amount plus the interest accrued, is owed and repayable to the local authority. The local authority issues the CALF monies to the AHB and the local authority, in turn, recoups same from the Department. The remainder of the capital cost is sourced by the AHB through other borrowings, to which the local authorities are not party.
Information in relation to acquisitions can be accessed on the DPER website at https://assets.gov.ie/25634/13fe4c4ec237489b9d3b6ebeea68332b.pdf .
Granular detail relating pre 2016 CALF projects is not available, as projects were assessed from an overall capital perspective.
My Department is working with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on a Spending Review of the Social Housing Build programme, including CALF, for the period 2016-2019, a report on which is expected to be published later this year and will be publicly available. As part of this work, the Departments are working to extrapolate unit costs from the raw data provided by the Approved Housing Bodies.
