Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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193. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of houses to be delivered in housing developments benefitting from LIHAF funding that will cost in ranges (details supplied). [3618/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the table.

34 projects, at a total cost of €226 million, received preliminary approval for funding in March 2017 under the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF). Local authorities were allowed to proceed to design phase on all of these projects, pending final approval and sign-off of a grant agreement between my Department and Local Authorities.

To date, I have given final approval for 29 of the 34 infrastructure projects which will activate supply of almost 18,000 housing units, and grant agreements in respect of those projects have been signed.  The balance of the projects are being finalised or have been moved for consideration under LIHAF 2 later in 2018.

Within the 18,000 units being advanced, it is expected that increased numbers of social housing over and above the 10% under Part V will be provided. Subject to the planning process and the eventual development applications made, it is estimated that approximately 3,000 of the 18,000 new homes will be for social housing purposes, made up of Part V units and additional social housing which will be provided on the 13 State-owned sites benefiting from the LIHAF-funded enabling infrastructure.  On most of these publicly-owned sites, additional affordable housing will also be provided for sale or for rent.

As required under the scheme criteria and conditions, a key focus has been to ensure that there is a proportionate dividend for the State’s investment in infrastructure, as demonstrated by either provision of housing at scale at certain prices, a proportionate reduction in house prices across all of the homes being facilitated or a specified number of homes which will benefit from a larger price reduction. I intend to publish summary details on all the approved and advancing projects, once final positions regarding the remaining projects have been reached.

In relation to the 29 sites for which grant agreements have been signed, and subject to completion of the planning process, the number of houses committed to be delivered on each site is set out in the table below.

Based on the information provided by the local authorities in their local agreements and analysis of current house prices in the areas concerned, and recognising the commercial sensitivity around some of the details in the agreements reached, the approved projects outside Dublin are projected to have new homes for sale towards the lower end of the bands identified by the Deputy, while the projects in Dublin are projected to have starter homes available towards the middle and upper end of these bands.