Housing Provision

Tuesday, 30 January 2024

Ceisteanna (322, 323, 324, 325)

Eoin Ó Broin

Ceist:

322. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average cost of a new build social home delivered via turnkey in 2023, broken down by local authority, in tabular form. [3795/24]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Eoin Ó Broin

Ceist:

323. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average cost of a new build social home delivered via SHIP construction in 2023, broken down by local authority, in tabular form. [3796/24]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Eoin Ó Broin

Ceist:

324. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide in tabular form the average cost of a new build social home delivered via CALF construction in 2023 broken down by local authority. [3798/24]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Eoin Ó Broin

Ceist:

325. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide in tabular form the average cost of a new build social home delivered via Part V in 2023 broken down by local authority. [3799/24]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

I propose to take Questions Nos. 322, 323, 324 and 325 together.

The relevant details are being compiled and will be provided to the Deputy in accordance with Standing Orders.

Question No. 323 answered with Question No. 322.

Question No. 324 answered with Question No. 322.

Question No. 325 answered with Question No. 322.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51.

My Department assesses, approves and records local authority social housing delivery on a project basis. As 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 (formerly UCCs) 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 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 per unit (incl. VAT), for each local authority, recorded as part of the aforementioned analysis for projects tendered in the years 2022 & 2023.

The tables also set out the range of average unit costs (across different projects) for each local authority. 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 table.

SHIP Construction	Construction Costs (incl abnormals)	Construction Costs (incl abnormals)	Abnormal Costs
LA	Average Cost Per Unit	Range of Costs Per Unit	Average Cost Per Unit
Carlow	215,423	215k - 215k	10,289
Cavan	282,599	278k - 294k	38,514
Clare	279,726	268k - 289k	56,596
Cork City	316,095	244k - 364k	48,171
Cork County	271,427	165k - 321k	45,705
DLR	347,005	252k - 376k	29,085
Donegal	230,574	191k - 257k	21,833
Dublin City	386,391	381k - 390k	46,177
Fingal	248,256	242k - 287k	22,595
Galway City	243,328	226k - 421k	23,963
Galway County	234,634	224k - 287k	23,048
Kerry	264,727	231k - 363k	29,200
Kildare	364,123	317k - 371k	57,853
Kilkenny	340,559	341k - 341k	47,678
Laois	327,552	328k - 328k	45,414
Leitrim	N/A	N/A	N/A
Limerick City	248,213	196k - 261k	31,215
Longford	236,571	237k - 237k	23,758
Louth	317,397	296k - 359k	39,455
Mayo	270,256	249k - 319k	39,872
Meath	299,198	222k - 344k	21,928
Monaghan	248,656	249k - 249k	33,894
Offaly	263,567	264k - 264k	24,589
Roscommon	194,389	180k - 213k	17,689
Sligo	242,150	206k - 301k	24,728
South Dublin	356,789	327k - 365k	35,884
Tipperary	219,300	219k - 219k	25,053
Waterford City	273,532	221k - 302k	52,658
Westmeath	263,361	250k - 434k	21,407
Wexford	334,161	262k - 373k	38,677
Wicklow	338,425	170k - 406k	49,244

The costs to the construction element only of the all-in delivery cost. Other items that make up the all-in total include:

• 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.

In advancing social housing projects, a range of factors can impact on the costs for individual projects. Project-specific issues will always arise and can impact on how a project can be advanced and the costs for same. These factors are covered in the regular engagement that happens between my Department and local authorities which is focussed on facilitating the earliest possible delivery of new social homes.

My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in each local authority. This data is available to the end of Quarter 3 2023 and is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/6d316-local-authority-housing-scheme-statistics/?referrer=http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/social-housing/local-authority-housing-scheme-statistics My Department also publishes the Social Housing Construction Status Report (CSR). The CSR provides details of social housing developments and their location that have been completed, are under construction or are progressing through the various stages of the design and tender processes. The most recent publication was for Quarter 3 2023. All Construction Status Reports are available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/cb885-social-housing-construction-projects-status-reports/ A version of the CSR file can also be downloaded for analysis of completions, locations, approvals stage etc. at this link:

https://data.gov.ie/dataset/social-housing-construction-status-report-q3-2023

Data for Q4 2023 is currently being collated.

The table in the pdf attached sets out the average cost per social housing homes delivered across SHIP Turnkey, CAS and CALF build programmes for the first 9 months of 2023.

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

Note 2: 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.