Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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259. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide an update on the progress of the proposed 597 unit public housing scheme at the former Shanganagh Castle site in Shankill, County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32087/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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In May Government granted approval to proceed with the construction of 597 homes, including 200 social housing, 306 cost rental and 91 affordable purchase homes at Shanganagh Castle, the first such development in the State.  This flagship project is intended to act as a pathfinder for other mixed tenure schemes which are key to delivering public housing on public land.  It is being progressed through a Development Agreement between Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLR) and the Land Development Agency (LDA) on the site owned by DLR.

My Department has informed DLR and the LDA of the Government decision giving approval to proceed and contracts with the preferred bidder are expected to be signed in the coming weeks.  It is expected that construction will commence in Q3 2022 and delivery will be phased from 2024 – 2026.

The construction of the social housing units will be funded through the Social Housing Investment Programme.  Funding from my Department is also approved for public infrastructure works to contribute to the delivery of affordable homes from the Affordable Housing Fund.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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260. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide an update on the progress of the proposed 42 unit public housing scheme on lands at Loughlinstown Wood, Loughlinstown, County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32088/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) are making an important contribution to social housing delivery, as envisaged under the Housing for All Plan. The Government is committed to increasing social housing delivery and plans to deliver more than 90,000 social homes to 2030.

My Department operates a number of funding programmes that assist local authorities to work in partnership with AHBs to construct, purchase and lease new homes and make them available for social housing. One such programme that provides finance to assist AHBs progress construction projects is the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF). 

CALF funding is capital support provided to the AHBs by local authorities to facilitate the funding of construction, acquisition or refurbishment of new social housing units.  This loan facility can support up to 30% of the eligible capital cost of the housing project, with the housing units provided to local authorities for social housing use under long-term lease arrangements known as Payment and Availability Agreements. A nominal interest rate of 2% fixed per annum is charged by the local authority on the initial capital amount.Repayments on either the capital or interest are not required during the term of the loan (between 10 and 30 years), although where an AHB chooses to, repayments can be made during the term. At the end of the term, the outstanding capital amount plus the interest accrued, is owed and repayable to the local authority. The local authority issues the CALF monies to the AHB and the local authority, in turn, recoups same from the Department.

With regard to the specific project mentioned, I can confirm that the project received conditional CALF funding approval in 2019 for 34 social housing homes.While my Department has not had any direct engagement with the Loughlinstown Housing Co-Operative, it actively engages with the local authority and Co-Operative Housing Ireland.The most recent update from Co-Operative Housing Ireland is that, Loughlinstown Co-Op re-tendered the project following the withdrawal of the preferred tenderer from the procurement process.  The closing date for the recent tender competition was the 13 June 2022 and the submissions received are currently being appraised by the AHB.  This is the first stage of a two stage process.  Subject to acceptance of the tender process, a delivery date will be confirmed.

My Department publishes a quarterly Social Housing Construction Projects Status Report, which sets out the continuing progress being made in advancing the national local authority and AHB new-build pipeline.  The latest report, setting out the position at end Q4 2021, can be accessed at the following weblink:  

www.gov.ie/en/publication/af746-social-housing-construction-projects-status-report-q4-2021/.