Given the importance of the Approved Housing Body (AHB) sector in the delivery of social housing there is an ongoing level of communication and interaction with this sector across my Department regarding a range of funding streams and in the area of AHB policy and regulation.
In regular meetings with officials of my Department the AHB sector advise and update on the status of projects including where relevant details of any projects which they advise are no longer part of their delivery pipeline. This level of information available to my Department is supplemented by information from the Local Authority quarterly returns. It is using this methodology whereby my Department would be made aware of any project which no longer forms part of an individual AHB delivery pipeline including those that might be purchased by a private investment firm.
A detailed Social Housing Construction Status Report (CSR) is published each quarter. The CSR provides details of individual build projects in each local authority. The most recent publication covers the period up to the end of Q4 2020 and is available at the following link:
https://rebuildingireland.ie/news/minister-obrien-publishes-2020-social-housing-statistics/
Approved Housing Bodies are also playing an important role in the delivery of homes in the new cost rental sector. This includes the delivery of the first 440 homes beginning this year and supported via the Serviced Sites Fund and through the Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL). Commercial arrangements for the eight CREL sites selected under the initial tranche of funding for this scheme are currently being finalised by the relevant AHBs, and I hope to be able to make an announcement concerning their specific locations shortly.
