Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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125. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the policy rationale for the Payment and Availability (P&A)-Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) related to the financing of social housing development by approved housing bodies; and the impact this has had for development financing for approved housing bodies since its introduction. [6668/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The origin of Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in Ireland is as philanthropic bodies of the nineteenth and twentieth century which built housing for the then working classes. The role of AHBs has been increasingly recognised in national housing policy documents.

The publication of the Housing Policy Statement in 2011 committed to expand the role of the AHB sector. This policy intention regarding the AHB sector was further set out in the Social Housing Strategy 2020, which was published in 2014. That policy document included a reference to facilitating a step change in new investment in social housing by AHBs through the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) Scheme.

The 2014 policy recognised that CALF had been introduced in 2011 in order to replace the Capital Loan and Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) and that the new financing model would drive the growth in social housing development by the AHB sector. Therefore, the original policy rationale for the P&A-CALF funding model was two-fold: (i) it ensured that AHBs could secure funding for social housing development by securing a capital contribution from the State through CALF; and (ii) it allowed the AHB sector to deliver high levels of social housing units, working with local authorities country-wide.

The introduction of the CALF funding model in 2011 has had a positive effect on the AHB sector in terms of obtaining development finance. This funding model has allowed AHBs to secure a capital contribution from my Department of up to 30 per cent of the overall capital of a social housing project. In the majority of cases, the balance of the funding required is secured from the Housing Finance Agency. These financing arrangements have enabled the delivery of 19,780 social homes in the period between 2016 and 2023, inclusive.