Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is to keep them off balance sheet. The problem is that it is a lot of money going down a big hole. Up to €2,300 a month to rent an apartment is an astronomical spend, even in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. In terms of social housing delivery, I am in favour of the integration of social housing with private. I have argued for it over the years. When I was chair of my local authority SPC, strategic policy committee, I pushed it hard.

Up to 70% of new builds for local authorities and approved housing bodies were turnkeys. There is an argument that this takes away from private housing stock in that if an approved housing body buys units in a development, it leaves fewer for first-time buyers trying to get a starter home.

The cost of these homes appears astronomical. Figures supplied by the Department show that the cost to build such a unit in Fingal is estimated to be €209,000 while a turnkey unit costs €412,000. In Dublin city, the cost to build an apartment is €181,000 while the cost of a turnkey apartment was €382,000 in 2019. It is more a case of breaking even in rural areas in that turnkey accommodation can be bought for roughly the same amount as it would cost to build. By any standard, these turnkey developments represent an excessive cost. To return to the issue of leasing under Part V, in many cases developers have the option to lease 10% of units rather than allowing the local authority to buy between 10% and 20% of them at a discounted rate, as was the case under the old system. That is where many of the leases are getting caught. I presume those units in Dún Laoghaire were acquired under Part V.