Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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685. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the average cost to the Exchequer in 2021 per unit of accommodation for (details supplied), in tabular form. [20870/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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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. The cost of constructing new homes is dependent on a range of variables, such as the location, the scale of the development and the size and type of the homes involved, the number of units delivered in individual local authorities. The table below sets out the average cost to the exchequer in 2021 of social housing delivery across a range of programmes. 

The Social Housing PPP Programme is being delivered through the ‘availability’-based PPP model. Under this type of contract, a PPP consortium, as the private partner, designs, builds, finances, maintains and operates the relevant bundle of social housing units in return for a monthly ‘availability’ and performance-based payment (or unitary charge) made over the operating period. The duration of the contract is the construction period plus a 25-year operating period and no unitary charge payments are made until the homes are constructed and available to house tenants.

The estimated full value of Bundle 1 (534 units) and Bundle 2 (465 units) of the Social Housing PPP contracts in nominal terms is €301 million and €253 million respectively (both figures are exclusive of VAT and include a forecast of inflation). Over the lifetime of the contract, this equates to an average of approximately €1m per month, (exclusive of VAT and inclusive of an allowance for inflation), or approximately €1,900 per unit per month for bundle 1 and approximately €0.84m per month, (exclusive of VAT and inclusive of an allowance for inflation), or approximately €1,800 per unit per month for bundle 2. This cost includes all construction, maintenance, operating, lifecycle, tenancy management and financing costs. Service provision that is included in the contract includes building and asset management, waste management, security, void management, tenant helpdesk services, and the provision of community development services. At the end of the 25-year operating period, the units are handed over to the relevant local authority in a pre-defined condition. In 2021, the remaining 150 units in Bundle 1 and all units in Bundle 2 were delivered.

Note 1: The information provided above is based on the financial information available to the Department. Delivery does not necessarily occur in the year of approval or spend.

Note 2:The CALF figures are based on application details and may be subject to change as the project progresses. The CALF Capital Outlay represents the average amount of CALF funding provided by the exchequer. (A maximum of 30%) 

Note 3:Agreement on Part V arrangements are a matter for the local authorities. In some cases the Part V average is affected by delivery of homes that were subject to agreements prior to the current Part V arrangements. Complete details of PART V arrangements are available from the local authorities. It should be noted that some Part Vs, while recorded as delivered in 2021, costs have not been claimed or recouped as yet and so are excluded from the average costs below. The CAS Part V average is based on the cost of providing one unit in a shared accommodation dwelling.

Note 4:For SHIP Construction projects it should be noted that the averages predominantly relate to new build projects but also include some projects delivering new homes via refurbishment/conversion of existing/derelict properties. These averages represent projects of various designs, types of units (houses, apartments, duplexes) and size (number of bedrooms etc.). The averages reflect current Department approved amounts, which may be subject to final adjustment (pending conclusion of contractor final accounts, etc.). The table reflects all-in delivery costs, which include (as applicable) construction costs, along with site / property purchase costs, fees, utilities, site investigations/surveys, local authority in-house fees, public art etc.

Note 5:In terms of Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL), the figure above represents the average cost for funding 30% of the capital costs of providing the 65 CREL-funded Cost Rental homes delivered in 2021. The Housing Finance Agency funds the remaining 70% of capital costs for these developments.