New affordable-purchase homes in south Dublin are “still working out at sky-high prices”, according to the chairman of the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Brian Stanley. He made the criticism during a meeting with the Land Development Agency (LDA), the State body tasked with delivering social and affordable housing.
Its chief executive, John Coleman, told PAC how phase one of Shanganagh Castle Estate, the LDA’s first direct-delivery project on State-owned land, was launched last month. It will ultimately include 597 homes involving a mix of affordable purchase, cost rental and social homes. TDs were told that the application portal for the houses is live, and “there is huge interest in them”.
The development is aimed at people who cannot afford to purchase private-sector homes but who do not qualify for social housing. Two-bedroom terraced houses have a minimum sale price of €334,600.
Under the affordable purchase scheme the local council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, will have a stake in the property. The two-bedroom terraced houses would have a market value of €478,000 but if gross household income is less than a threshold of €96,795, the council will take a stake to a maximum of 30 per cent. If purchasers sell their home they will have to pay back the equity they received.
READ MORE
Sinn Féin TD Mr Stanley raised questions about the level of borrowing people would have to do to buy one of the homes. Mr Coleman said the LDA did not produce the affordable purchase policy but it does implement it and it is based on the market value of the house.
PAC heard that Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown provided the land for less than €10,000 per unit. Mr Stanley said that despite the housing at Shanganagh being “subsidised” and built on land that’s “almost free” by a builder contracted by the LDA, they were still working out at “sky-high prices”.
Mr Coleman said: “In Shankill the open market value is higher than normal. In other locations where we sold affordable homes – Navan, Waterford, Mallow – they’re much lower than that.” Mr Stanley said: “Because there’s this notion around certain areas, they’re more expensive.”
He reiterated that the land was acquired for “a nominal sum” and suggested construction costs like concrete blocks, timber and labour were the same as they would be in parts of Ireland with the lowest house prices.
Mr Coleman said: “Sometimes it’s cheaper to build in other locations”, and he also offered some “context” that the “vast majority of the LDA’s output is targeted at cost rental housing” rather than affordable purchase.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
