Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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298. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if the funding under the social housing current expenditure programme for 2017 will provide social housing units only as leased arrangements with private landlords or will be used to build social housing units for local authority or approved housing bodies. [30801/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP) supports the delivery of social housing by providing financial support to local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) for the long term leasing of houses and apartments from private owners, developers and AHBs. Properties made available under the programme are used to accommodate households from local authority waiting lists. Leased properties are allocated to tenants in accordance with the relevant local authority's allocation scheme. In 2017, 2,250 new social housing units are targeted to be funded under the SHCEP programme. In addition, the Programme will also fund the ongoing cost of the almost 8,000 existing units that are already being used for social housing under the Programme. These new units will be delivered using a variety of different streams, including properties which will be newly constructed and acquired by AHBs. In 2017, of the 2,250 new units to be funded under the Programme, it is expected that 250 units will be built and 900 units will be acquired by AHBs.

My Department offers separate financial support to AHBs in the form of a long term loan under the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) to assist with the financing of the construction or acquisition of units that will be provided for social housing use.  This loan facility can support up to 30% of the eligible capital cost of the project, where the units will be provided under long-term lease arrangements (and funded by the SHCEP) to local authorities for social housing use.