Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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317. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for an update on the development of a single stage approval process for social and affordable housing delivery. [62505/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government – Securing Ireland’s Future committed to introducing a new single approval process for all standardised social housing and affordable housing projects.

On 5 July, Cabinet approved the introduction of a single stage approval process for all for local authority and Approved Housing Body new build social housing up to a value of €200 million.

The new approval process mandates the use of a standardised design approach, as per my Department’s published Design Manual for Quality Housing and the Employer’s Requirements for Detail Design of Quality Housing, for all new build social housing projects being developed by Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies.

The process is in transition phase at this time and my Department is, in collaboration with the Working Group, finalising the necessary guidance notes, templates and documentation which will issue to the sector in the coming weeks, with an expected full rollout of the new process by the end of 2025.

With respect to Affordable Housing, the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) and Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL), these funding schemes have already been operating under a single stage approval.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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318. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for a breakdown of average social housing new build costs for 2024, for each of the schemes used to fund social housing, including SHIP construction, SHIP turnkey, CALF construction, CALF turnkey, CAS turnkey, CALF turnkey, to include the revenue component and full unit cost for the CALF schemes, by local authority area. [62506/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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My Department assesses, approves and records local authority social housing delivery on a project basis, rather than on the basis of individual unit types.

SHIP-funded construction projects by local authorities must, like all publicly-funded construction programmes, comply with the Infrastructure Guidelines (Public Spending Code) and Capital Works Management Framework. My Department periodically issues Basic Unit Costs (BUCs) 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, BUCs 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 BUC levels, my Department analyses the tender data for the construction cost element of new build schemes approved under the SHIP & CAS 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 table below are average construction costs (incl. VAT), recorded as part of the aforementioned analysis for projects tendered in 2024 (1-4 bedroom houses and apartments).

The table also sets out the range of average unit costs (across different projects). The range of costs recorded vary, depending on design, mix of unit types (e.g. bedroom numbers, apartment/house); and on the level of abnormal requirements for each scheme, for instance existing site conditions, demolitions, service diversions, site access requirements. Average abnormal costs are also separately identified in the below table.

SHIP Construction 2024

• 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.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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319. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the means by which mixed tenure social and affordable development approvals are dealt with by his Department. [62507/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Mixed Tenure Section within my Department acts as a single point of contact for local authorities for funding submissions for mixed tenure projects seeking funding for affordable housing under the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) and social housing under the Social Housing Investment Programme (SHIP).

The section seeks to assist local authorities in navigating AHF and SHIP funding submissions while also retaining the approval within the relevant unit within my Department e.g. Social Housing Delivery or Affordable Housing.

Funding applications for a mixed tenure project under each scheme may not always be submitted at the same time by a local authority. Where these are submitted simultaneously, the Mixed Tenure Section plays a coordination role in ensuring the approval issued by the respective unit is aligned; and where possible, combined funding approval letters are issued.

With respect to AHB mixed tenure projects using the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) and Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) funding schemes the Housing Agency provide support to the Department to advance such approvals.