Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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1215. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the status of the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF; the amount of funding awarded to date; and the amount of funding awarded per project to date. [5707/20]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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1249. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the funding allocated and drawn down under the LIHAF to date; the number of recipients; the details of each; the number of units delivered; the number of discounted units delivered; and the price of each. [4478/20]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1215 and 1249 together.

As an initiative of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) is primarily designed to fund the provision of public off-site infrastructure to relieve critical infrastructure blockages and enable housing developments to be built on key sites at scale.

30 projects received final LIHAF approval with an overall budget of €195.7m, of which €146.8m will be Exchequer funded, with the remainder funded via local authorities. Of the 30 projects, Kildare County Council has confirmed that its project on the Naas Inner Relief Road will not now progress, although an element of the housing that was associated with the project has taken place.

Details of the approvals by local authority area, budget allocation, project description and projected housing delivery are available at .

Currently, 3 LIHAF projects have completed infrastructure construction. Of the remaining 26, up to the end of April (and excluding the Naas project), 14 projects have been approved to go to, or are already at, infrastructure construction stage. Of the remaining 12 projects, 3 are expected to have tenders approved and go to construction before the end of Q3 2020. Nine are not yet ready to go to infrastructure tender stage which is required in order to receive approval to proceed to construction. My Department is reviewing these projects and considering requests from local authorities for extensions to the funding agreements as and when they arise.

In terms of LIHAF funding drawdown, thus far, most infrastructure projects have been at the design, planning and procurement stages, and the bulk of expenditure will arise during the construction phase. This is reflected in the level of expenditure to end Q1 2020, with approximately €37.731 million in Exchequer funds drawn down (matched by a further 25% local authority funding bringing the total expenditure to €50.308m). The table below details the exchequer funding drawn down up to end of Q1 2020.

In terms of homes delivered, the table below details the number of completed homes up to Q4 2019. Figures in respect of Q1 2020 are currently being collated. Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 emergency, local authorities had estimated that a further 4,000 homes would be delivered in 2020; it is not yet clear what impact the pandemic will have on LIHAF delivery.

The individual sales price of homes that are delivered following the construction of the LIHAF facilitating infrastructure is not available in my Department. However, by way of example, Meath County Council has confirmed it will be offering units at Ratoath at a discount of 10% to the relevant open market prices. In Cork City, the LIHAF project at Glanmire will see 110 homes delivered with a discount of approx. €20,000 each on the open market price.