Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

699. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the average cost of units provided under the build and acquisition categories of Rebuilding Ireland from 2016 to 2020, inclusive, and to date in 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40455/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on social housing delivery activity on a quarterly basis. Details on the number of social housing units provided by local authorities from 2016 to Quarter 1 2021 is published at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/.

Cost information on the delivery of social homes through the various construction streams, is collated by my Department at development level rather than at individual housing unit level. Disaggregating such development level information into individual unit costs, across all of the various types of units, would require significant analysis on unit characteristics such as size, type, number of bedrooms, site costs, abnormal costs, fees, etc. to derive an accurate reflection of unit cost across all of the delivery streams.

In October 2020, the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER), 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: www.budget.gov.ie/Budgets/2021/Documents/Budget/Spending%20Review%202020%20-%20Analysis%20of%20Social%20Housing%20Build%20Programme.pdf.  DPER has also published a Spending Review Paper 'Analysis of Social Housing Acquisitions'. This objective of the paper was to provide an overview of the acquisition delivery mechanisms, and other related mechanisms, including an analysis of the level of expenditure and social housing output in the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. The paper is available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/5915ad-spending-review/.

My Department has also recently prepared a breakdown of local authority social housing build costs for 2019 and 2020. As Social Housing Investment Programme (SHIP) 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 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 schemes approved under the SHIP and Capital Assistance Scheme 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) per unit type, recorded as part of the aforementioned analysis for projects tendered in each of the years 2019 to 2020. The tables also set out the range of costs that make up this average for each unit type. The range of costs recorded vary, depending on design, location and on the level of abnormal requirements for each scheme, for instance 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 including abnormals (i.e. not all-in costs)

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.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

700. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 197 of 15 July 2021, the target for new housing first tenancies under the national implementation plan 2018-2021; the number of these tenancies that have been provided to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40456/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Housing First enables homeless individuals with high levels of complex needs to obtain permanent secure accommodation with the provision of intensive housing and health supports to help them maintain their tenancies. 

The National Implementation Plan for Housing First, published in September 2018, which puts the programme on a national footing, is designed to provide this response, by delivering permanent housing solutions and associated supports for rough sleepers and long-term users of emergency accommodation. It extends the delivery of Housing First nationally, with the introduction of targets for each local authority.  

The Plan includes an overall target of 663 tenancies in the period 2018-2021. The implementation of the Plan is a joint initiative of my Department, the Department of Health, the HSE and the local authorities.   

In line with the National Implementation Plan, Housing First is being delivered on a regional basis by the local authorities and the HSE. Contracts for the delivery of services have been put in place in each of the nine regions responsible for the delivery of homeless services with tenancies now in place in every region. At the end of March 2021, a total of 539 individuals were being housed under the Housing First programme including 438 individuals who have been housed since the publication of the National Implementation Plan.  Details on the number of Housing First tenancies are published every three months as part of my Department's Homeless Quarterly Progress Report, with the next report due for publication on 30 July 2021.