Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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333. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the total number of social housing leased properties held by the National Asset Residential Property Services ; the breakdown of the location of the units by local authority area; the amount paid to date from for these long-term leases; the length of time remaining and the expected cost remaining on these leases; the date upon which these properties will be transferred to the LDA; the reason the LDA has been chosen to manage these units; and any other update on NARPS that may be available. [14357/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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In 2013, NAMA established a special purpose vehicle (National Asset Residential Property Services Limited ‘NARPS’), to take ownership of suitable residential units directly from NAMA debtors and receivers in areas where there was an established demand for social housing and then lease these units on a long-term basis to an approved housing body (AHB) or local authority.

Information in relation to the number of leases by local authority is available on the NAMA website at the following link:

www.nama.ie/our-work/social-initiatives/social-housing/social-housing-units-offered-by-local-authority.

The total spend on NARPS dwellings over the last number of years can be found in the table below. 

SHCEP Expenditure on NARPS dwellings

Leasing costs prior to 2018 (which include NARPS) are available on a cumulative basis only and, as such, it is not possible to give a breakdown of the cost of NARPS leases before that date.

NARPS leases are 20 years and 9 months in duration.  The majority of these leases commenced in 2015/2016, and the remaining average lease term is 15 years.  The future cost of NARPS leases is dependent on the length of time left on a specific lease and whether and when a rent review will take place. Funding for NARPS leases for future years will be agreed on an annual basis as part of the normal Estimates process.

Under ‘Housing for All’, Action 18.2 requires the process for the proposed transfer of NARPS from NAMA to the Land Development Agency (LDA) to be agreed.  This action is the joint responsibility of my Department and the Department of Finance.  Legal advice is currently being sought from the Office of the Attorney General on the legal transfer mechanism for the transfer of the NARPS portfolio from NAMA to the LDA.  As such, the date on which ownership of the NARPS portfolio will transfer to the LDA is not yet known.

Transferring the NARPS portfolio to the LDA ensures that the portfolio will remain in the ownership of the State and will continue to be used for social housing leasing provision.