Written answers

Thursday, 28 September 2017

Department of Finance

Credit Availability

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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90. To ask the Minister for Finance the average and maximum capital provided by each of the State-funded banks for residential construction projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41191/17]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I assume that the Deputy is referring to the banks in which the State is an equity shareholder and will answer the question on that basis; I would note for clarity that this does not equate to being "State funded".

I have received the following responses to the Deputy's question:

AIB:

"AIB supports proven developers in locations where there is demand for new product across the country. The bank does this through its Local Markets network and through its Real Estate Finance Team.

"AIB has supported developers across the spectrum in terms of scale and the Bank just this year established a new dedicated team to address small and medium sized developer requirements. AIB’s smallest development finance facilities has been below €1m with the largest advance in a single location to a developer being close to €50m."

Bank of Ireland:

"Bank of Ireland is active in residential development of Single Family Homes (traditional housebuilding), Multi Family Rentals (apartments) and Purpose Built Student Accommodation. The Bank has allocated funding of €1bn for construction and development lending, the majority of which is allocated to support construction projects in Ireland. In Ireland, the Bank is currently supporting >100 sites which are capable of delivering c.2,500 Single Family Homes, and c.1,300 apartments for rent/Purpose Built Student Accommodation beds.

"The Bank does not fund stand-alone land-bank and land can only be funded as part of an active development project. The Bank assesses each funding opportunity on its own merits and in the context of a number of policy points and guidelines. The appropriate level of funding is one of these and while in part the level of funding ultimately provided by the Bank varies by project, in general our policy stipulates that for 'Single Family Homes' housing developments (distinct from apartments or build to rent developments) the Bank may provide up to a maximum of 50% of land costs and up to a maximum of 70% of development costs. The Bank can also provide Mezzanine debt which, in certain circumstances, can increase the level of funding available by a further 10%.

"When assessing each transaction the Bank works with the housebuilder to agree a bespoke structure to meet both their needs and the bank’s requirements, in some cases this has included working alongside Private Equity houses to deliver debt solutions for housebuilders. From a review of the Bank’s active construction and development loan book the average ‘Loan To Cost’ ratio for new residential developments is c.65% (excl Mezz)."

PTSB:

Permanent TSB have confirmed to my officials that they do not engage in lending to residential construction projects. 

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