Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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59. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his views on and if he has concerns regarding the amount of homes the public sector is purchasing from the open market to make up for the lack of housing supply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33754/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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As set out in the Programme for Government, a key focus for the delivery of social housing is for the majority of the 50,000 new units to be delivered over the next five-years, to be built by local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) and State agencies.  This is part of our focus to prioritise the increased supply of public, social, and affordable homes.

While this will be the majority approach to delivery, I still see some level of acquisitions of existing properties to be a valuable part of the delivery of social housing, recognising that in some areas of the country, good value for money can be obtained. In those situations, it can make sense for local authorities to undertake acquisitions in a targeted and strategic manner.

I have directed local authorities and AHBs where they undertake such targeted acquisitions, that they do not compete with private purchasers and leave value in the market particularly for first-time buyers. However within these constraints, acquisitions by local authorities can be cheaper than construction and allows them to make best use of existing housing stock. I have also asked local authorities to increasingly target vacant and derelict properties that can be brought back to use as part of new public housing delivery.

Where local authorities and AHBs engage with developers to acquire newly developed housing through turnkey arrangements, this is done on the basis that there is not undue interference in private housing supply and in most cases, the developments are ones that would not have been undertaken without the interest of a local authority or an AHB.

I am determined that the Government’s new ‘Housing for All’ national strategy will put in place the resources to deliver new public housing based in the main on delivery by local authorities, AHBs and State agencies with property acquisitions from the open market being a targeted and strategic aspect only of delivery.

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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60. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his views on the use of modular build units as a way to reduce the cost and time involved in building local authority housing. [33552/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is working closely with all local authorities in relation to increasing and accelerating the delivery of a range of social housing programmes and supports, including through the use of design-build rapid delivery methodologies (including modular build units). Local authorities have been advised that design- build rapid delivery approaches should be adopted where appropriate to deliver social housing projects on local authority-owned land.

To support delivery, the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) put in place a framework of design-build contractors in 2017. This framework which expired in February 2021, was available for all local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) to use in the interest of accelerated delivery.  While some local authorities have progressed projects using the framework, the scope of works was generally limited to certain development sizes and unit types. On this basis, other local authorities have implemented their own frameworks, while some have tendered on individual projects for design-build contractors, on a case by case basis.

The Housing Delivery and Co-ordination Office and my Department are currently working with the OGP on replacement frameworks which will operate on a regional basis and cater to a variety of development sizes and unit types, including apartments. In addition, Dublin City Council has developed a framework of design-build contractors for the delivery of a volumetric programme of houses and apartments which is available to all local authorities and AHBs to use on larger projects. It is envisaged that over 1,000 fast-track homes will be built using the Dublin City framework, and while the majority of these will be in Dublin, there will also likely be schemes in other large centres.

Many of the issues around delivery that ‘standard’ social housing construction projects face, are also faced by design-build projects, such as preparing sites, services/access to the site, community consultation, planning, etc.  There can however, be savings in terms of programme and construction with these advantages growing as more use is made of these frameworks and as contractors gain more experience in implementing these methods. Under this mechanism, acceleration is delivered both by the use of the design-build services of specialist contractors and reduced construction time periods due to considerable off site fabrication. As well as off-site construction providing many benefits in terms of delivery and affordability, the new frameworks will provide sustainable and durable quality housing. All new dwellings (including modular build units) must comply with the building regulations and building control requirements and for social housing achieve a 60-year durability for all key elements.

My Department will continue to work with local authorities to maximise delivery and harness appropriate opportunities to deliver on additional build units, including through design-build schemes.