Housing Provision

Tuesday, 16 June 2026

Ceisteanna (565)

Eoin Hayes

Ceist:

565. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the average all-in cost of delivering a new-build social housing unit in each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025 respectively, by a one-bedroom apartment, two-bedroom apartment, three-bedroom house; the breakdown of these costs between construction, land acquisition, professional fees, VAT, and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45064/26]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The information requested is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy in accordance with Standing Orders.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Orders.

My Department assesses, approves and records local authority social housing delivery on a project basis, rather than on the basis of individual unit types.

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 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 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 tables below are average construction costs (incl. VAT), recorded as part of the aforementioned analysis for projects tendered in 2023, 2024 and 2025 respectively (3-bedroom houses, 1 and 2-bedroom apartments).

The table also sets out the range of average unit costs (across different projects). The range of costs recorded vary, depending on size of scheme, location, etc. 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.

2023		Construction Costs (incl. abnormals)		Abnormal Costs
Average Cost Per Unit €	Range of Costs per Unit €	Average Cost Per Unit €	Range of Costs per Unit €
3bed house	296,277	183k - 446k	36,381	3k - 90k
1bed apartment	290,316	170k - 340k	32,446	5k - 65k
2bed apartment	375,152	203k - 538k	44,290	9k - 90k

2024		Construction Costs (incl. abnormals)		Abnormal Costs
Average Cost Per Unit €	Range of Costs per Unit €	Average Cost Per Unit €	Range of Costs per Unit €
3bed house	322,036	234k - 460k	41,140	4k - 123k
1bed apartment	306,042	191k - 425k	36,281	4k - 95k
2bed apartment	382,736	214k - 480k	33,567	17k - 95k

2025		Construction Costs (incl. abnormals)		Abnormal Costs
Average Cost Per Unit €	Range of Costs per Unit €	Average Cost Per Unit €	Range of Costs per Unit €
3bed house	298,242	209k - 544k	29,865	1k - 110k
1bed apartment	327,132	158k - 468k	34,893	6k - 72k
2bed apartment	342,491	206k - 475k	29,837	7k - 72k

The costs in the above tables relate 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 fees 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.

My Department operates a number of funding programmes that assist local authorities to work in partnership with Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) to construct new homes and make them available for social housing. The main funding programme that the AHB sector use is the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF).

CALF funding is capital support provided to Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) by local authorities to facilitate the funding of construction or purchase of new social housing units. This loan facility can support between 25% and 30% of the eligible capital cost of the housing project, with the remaining finance sourced by the AHBs from private lenders (usually the Housing Finance Agency (HFA)).

The housing units are 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.

Average Cost per Unit Delivered

Year	1 – bed apartment	2 – bed apartment	3 – bed house
2023	€322,112.43	€382,132.96	€340,691.28
2024	€347,316.47	€407,437.50	€336,668.13
2025	€375,826.44	€444,963.15	€358,052.20

Average CALF Amount Units Delivered

Year	1 – bed apartment	2 – bed apartment	3 – bed house
2023	€88,839.52	€104,975.27	€94,432.92
2024	€100,293.55	€117,204.36	€94,215.02
2025	€108,810.10	€129,922.03	€101,529.00

CALF Note 1: Delivery does not necessarily occur in the year of approval or spend.

CALF Note 2: The information above is calculated using the financial information available to the Department at this time. Figures are based on application details and may be subject to change as the project progresses.