Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

At the end of 2009, 1,933 units had been sourced and approved under the social housing leasing initiative. Some 1,413 units - 1,331 unsold affordable units and 82 units sourced from the private sector - had received full approval by that date. A further 520 private units had been given provisional approval. Some 437 of the fully approved units are considered to be operational, as signed lease agreements are in place. They are either occupied or are in the course of occupation. Given that I did not introduce the initiative until February 2009, this represents significant progress. It shows that the initiative, even at this early stage, is starting to deliver. Under current arrangements, unsold affordable units are leased to approved housing bodies for a period of five years. During this period, the properties are used to accommodate households that are eligible for social housing support. The local authority retains ownership of the units throughout the lease period. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government recoups to each local authority the interest payments liable in respect of the loans taken by the authority to fund affordable properties in the first instance.

The average monthly cost for each affordable unit is €365. This compares to an average monthly cost of €456 for all other lease projects. A breakdown of the cost by unit size is not available. A total of €642,000 was spent under the leasing initiative in 2009. The full-year cost of the fully approved units is approximately €12 million. We will not set targets for additional delivery, in so far as affordable housing in general is concerned, this year. We will have regard to developments in the housing market. The emphasis will be on continuing to make progress with measures to ensure the most effective deployment of already delivered but unsold affordable homes. I refer to their use for social housing purposes, for example. The ultimate intention is that the bulk of the affordable units transferred to the social housing leasing initiative will be offered for sale in due course, either to social tenants or under affordable housing arrangements. The last time this issue was raised on Question Time, Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked for a breakdown of the cost of affordable units, as opposed to private units. I apologise for the failure to send that information on to him. It is included in today's response.

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