Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 22 March 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Social and Affordable Housing: Discussion

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Jordan and Mr. O'Leary for their presentations and acknowledge the good work their organisations do and have been doing for some time. Everybody in the committee acknowledges that work and wishes them well in their endeavours.

I have a few questions for Mr. Jordan and then a few for Mr. O'Leary. Concerning the €70 million rolling fund, the original target under the previous Government's plan was 1,600 units to be brought on stream by 2021. As Mr. Jordan said, only 927 were achieved. In the review, is there anything Mr. Jordan can say about what learning might be there at this stage to ensure that fund continues to make sure, whatever targets are set, that it can increase the acquisitions? On cost rental, many of us are still concerned about entry-level rents. The price of construction is the price of construction but the entry-level rents can be brought down and were brought down on Enniskerry Road by extending the term of the loan. Is the Housing Agency looking at making longer term finance, whether through the EIB and the HFA or a mixture, over, say, a 40-year rather than 25-year period to get entry-level rents below €1,000 or €900? That is important in terms of affordability.

Does the Housing Agency have any concerns and is it doing any research in relation to the impact of rising construction costs? When construction goes up, it affects the entry-level rents. I am unsure what the repayment arrangements will be for the local authority equity portion under the housing fund. Can Mr. Jordan offer any clarity on that?

For Mr. O'Leary, there was coverage in today's Irish Examiner of the drawdown delays. We all understand that projects take different amounts of time and can be long or short. Has Mr. O'Leary observed whether it is particular types of projects that are drawing down longer? Is it CALF rather than turnkey? Is it direct build? Is it a mixture?

On mixed tenure, many of us would like to see local authorities and approved housing bodies do a mix of social rental and affordable rental. Does having a CREL and a CALF complicate that from Mr. O'Leary's end or would he be able to easily combine a HFA loan with an AHB that is bringing CALF and CREL to the table? Does he have any observations on loan length, in terms of bringing entry-level rents down? That issue is important to us.

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