Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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76. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the average all-in cost of turnkey social housing units approved in 2019 and 2020 by local authority in tabular form. [16158/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government commits to increasing the social housing stock by more than 50,000, with an emphasis on new build homes. In 2021, the total funding being made available for the delivery of housing programmes is €3.3bn.  This includes funding to deliver 12,750 social homes through build, acquisition and leasing.  A major focus of this investment is the delivery of new build, with an overall target of 9,500 new homes.

My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on all social housing delivery activity under Rebuilding Ireland. This is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: 

The table below sets out the average all-in cost of turnkey social housing units approved in 2019 and 2020. This information is based on the year turnkey construction projects received approval.

In comparing the average cost of a turnkey home, it is important to note that turnkeys typically deliver larger units when compared to direct build. Average costs vary depending on design and type of units (e.g. bedroom numbers, apartment/house). Average costs are also determined by the number of units delivered in individual local authorities. The number of units in the local authority direct build pipeline has increased year-on-year as the social housing delivery programme has progressed. Turnkeys commonly provide fast delivery of units as planning permission is already secured and also provide much needed delivery in locations where there is a social housing need but where a local authority has no suitable sites available.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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77. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the average all-in cost of SHIP social housing units approved in 2019 and 2020 by local authority in tabular form. [16159/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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As capital funded construction projects by local authorities must, like all publicly-funded construction programmes, comply with the Public Spending Code and Capital Works Management Framework, my Department periodically issues Unit Cost Ceilings (UCCs) for each local authority area, for use as a key benchmark for the development and costing of social housing construction scheme designs at capital appraisal stage. While not a record of actual delivery costs, UCCs are based on an analysis of returned data from tendered social housing schemes over an extended period and updated based on published tender index information as required.

To monitor tender cost trends and to inform the UCCs levels, my Department analyses the tender data for the construction cost element of new build social housing schemes approved under the four-stage approval processes for each unit type, where sufficient information is available to allow such costs to be extrapolated and where the information available is appropriate for comparison purposes.

Outlined in the tables below are average construction costs (incl. VAT) recorded as part of the aforementioned analysis for projects tendered in 2019 and 2020. I have provided the averages across all local authority areas, in addition to the averages for the four Dublin local authorities and other city based authorities for comparison purposes.

The tables also set out the range of costs that make up this average for each local authority. The range of costs recorded vary, depending on design, type of units (e.g. bedroom numbers, apartment/house); and on the level of abnormal cost requirements for each scheme, such as existing site conditions, demolitions, service diversions and site access requirements. Abnormal costs are also separately identified in the tables below.

*Construction Costs as shown, are derived from unit cost analysis and capture the construction cost element only incl abnormals (i.e. not all-in costs). Costs also vary depending on design and type of units (e.g. bedroom numbers, apartment/house).

*Construction Costs as shown, are derived from unit cost analysis and capture the construction cost element only incl abnormals (i.e. not all-in costs). Costs also vary depending on design and type of units (e.g. bedroom numbers, apartment/house). Average costs as shown are also affected by the number of projects tendered by the local authorities in the period which, in the case of Dublin City and South Dublin for 2020, was one project per LA.

**Some data on contruction costs for 2020 has yet to be analysed.

The above costs relate to the construction element of the all-in delivery cost. Other items that make up the all-in total include:

- Design/technical fees: Design fees vary from project to project, depending on the location, size and complexity of a scheme (and depending on whether design services are provided by a local authority in-house or via external appointment). As a guideline/indicator, design fee are generally expected to range between 7.5% to 12.5% of construction costs.

- Land cost: Land costs will vary significantly from project to project, depending on location and ownership status (i.e. land costs could vary from existing local authority land at no cost to land purchased at market value).

- Utilities: Connection fees for Irish Water, ESB, gas, etc. As a guideline/indicator, utility connection costs are generally in the order of €7k per unit.

- Other Costs: Other items that make up the all-in delivery cost can include site investigations/ surveys, archaeological requirements, Percent for Art contributions - and will vary from scheme to scheme.

To assist in policy development and to provide evidenced based data, in October 2020, the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, published an ‘Analysis of Social Housing Build Programme’ which examined the social housing build programme over the years 2016 to 2019 and considered issues such as Use of Build Delivery; Type of Units, Cost & Speed of Delivery and Cost Efficiency and Market Interaction. The IGEES analysis noted the range of average costs which highlighted the diversity of costs for delivery of new build units across different developments and locations. The paper is available at the following link: .

I look forward to working with all stakeholders in delivering on the commitment in the Programme for Government to increase the social housing stock by over 50,000 over the next five years, with an emphasis on new builds, and to ensuring that local authorities are central to delivering housing. Since taking up office, this commitment has been my key priority and focus. This is evidenced in Budget 2021 which provides record funding for housing of €3.3 billion overall.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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78. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the average all-in cost of Part V social housing units approved in 2019 and 2020 by local authority in tabular form. [16160/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government commits to increasing the social housing stock by more than 50,000, with an emphasis on new build home. In 2021, the total funding being made available for the delivery of housing programmes is €3.3bn. This includes funding to deliver 12,750 social homes through build, acquisition and leasing.  A major focus of this investment is the delivery of new build, with an overall target of 9,500 new homes.

Following the introduction of changes to Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000, effected through the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015 (the relevant sections of which were commenced with effect from 1 September 2015), the range of options available through which Part V obligations might be satisfied was reduced.  In particular, the payment of cash in lieu of homes or the transfer of sites or parts of sites was removed, and instead the remaining options are focused on the delivery of completed homes.

The current options for Part V delivery are:

- the transfer of ownership of land, subject to the planning permission application, to a local authority for the provision of social housing (the default option);

- the building and transfer of ownership to the local authority, or persons nominated, of completed social housing homes on the site subject to the planning permission;

- the transfer of ownership to the local authority, or persons nominated, of completed social housing homes on other land;

- the long term leasing of social housing homes; and

- a combination of the options above.

The table below, sets out an indicative average cost of Part V delivered units for each local authority for 2019 and 2020. This information is based on recoupment claims submitted by local authorities to my Department.  It should be noted that average costs vary depending on design and type of units (e.g. bedroom numbers, apartment/house). Average costs are also determined by the number of units delivered in individual local authorities.