Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 March 2022
333. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total cost of the payment and availability agreements currently in place for approved housing bodies funded alongside the Capital Advanced Loan Facility; and the total number of such units that receiving funding. [16310/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraApproved Housing Bodies (AHBs) are important partners for local authorities in the delivery of social housing. My Department and local authorities administer a number of funding programmes to assist AHBs with the cost of building, acquiring and leasing new social housing units.
The Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) funding is capital support provided to 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.
At the end of 2021, a total of 11,243 dwellings were supported under the Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP) under Payment and Availability agreements relating to units delivered under the Capital Advanced Loan Facility (CALF). The cost of funding these dwellings in 2021 was €158,196,256.
