Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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270. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the way in which councils recoup the cost of borrowing for housing developments in cases in which the council has purchased land which is then developed for affordable purchase and social housing, in situations in which the council has raised the loan and must pay the loan back and in which the income from the development goes to the national central fund whose remit it is to use this rolling fund to purchase more land for development; if it is nett of the council borrowings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41457/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Where a local authority is developing new social housing on land it has acquired, including where the acquisition was financed by borrowings, the capital funding for the development that is provided by my Department recoups the amount of the loan and any associated loan interest charges, to the local authority.

Where a local authority has indicated an intention to make homes available at discounted prices under the affordable dwelling purchase arrangements, all proposals that have been submitted to my Department have been in respect of lands already under the ownership of local authorities. In adopting this approach, it allows a local authority leverage the value of the land and any subvention through the Serviced Site Fund (the purpose of which is to support local authorities in addressing infrastructure/services issues on sites, rather than for purchasing lands) in order to deliver more affordable homes that can be sold at prices that are significantly lower than current market prices.

Any local authority considering purchasing land for the delivery of affordable housing would need to consider the extent to which the costs involved could be met while still delivering homes on the land at affordable prices.