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Costs of social housing construction in Dublin are double those elsewhere

Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin says figures show if land-related costs are kept in State ownership and extracted from final value, ‘you can sell bricks-and-mortar house at a price below €300,000′

The highest average per-unit costs of building social homes, after Dublin city, were in Kildare (€364,123), South Dublin (€356,789) and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (€347,005). Photograph: Derick Hudson

Eoin Burke-Kennedy
Tue Mar 26 2024 - 00:00

The average per-unit costs of constructing social homes under the Government’s main Social Housing Investment Programme (Ship) ranged from €194,389 in Roscommon to €386,391 in Dublin city last year.

The figures, which are based on the department’s own audit of the construction costs of new-build schemes under Ship, were provided by Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien in response to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féin’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin.

They reflect the costs incurred by local councils in building social homes, mainly but not always on State lands.

The next-highest average build costs, after Dublin city, were in Kildare (€364,123), South Dublin (€356,789) and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (€347,005). This compared to €215,423 in Carlow, €219,300 in Tipperary and €230,574 in Donegal.

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In his response, Mr O’Brien cautioned that the range of costs recorded varied depending on design and mix of unit types, mainly relating to bedroom numbers and whether a unit is an apartment or a house.

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The level of abnormal requirements for each scheme, including demolitions, service diversions and site access requirements, were also factors, he said.

In general, the disparity in costs between Dublin and other cities or more regional locations reflects the increasing number of high-density apartments being built in urban locations, which are more costly to develop.

“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,” Mr O’Brien said.

[ Asking prices rise as stock of available homes hits new low – Daft.ie ]

The figures show the average per-unit cost of social housing under the direct-build Ship programme last year was €309,700.

Mr Ó Broin said the figures showed that if land-related costs including site-servicing are kept in State ownership and extracted from the final value, “you can sell the bricks-and-mortar house at a price below €300,000″.

“This confirms again that it is possible, if the State wanted to, to deliver large volumes of homes through an affordable purchase scheme and sell them at prices below €300,000,” he said.

New dwelling completions overall totalled 32,695 last year, the highest level of residential construction seen in the Republic since the Celtic Tiger era and ahead of the Government’s Housing for All target of 29,000 units.

It is unclear, however, whether the Government’s targets for 2023 of 9,100 social homes and 3,500 affordable homes were achieved, as the figures are still being collated.

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy is Economics Correspondent of The Irish Times

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