Tenants in “cost rental” homes provided by the Land Development Agency (LDA) are paying about €1,000 less per month in rent than they would on the open market, the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee will be told.
The organisation’s chief executive John Coleman will also tell TDs the LDA has a pipeline of 37 sites for direct development which will deliver approximately 17,000 homes with many of these “under construction or about to go to construction”.
The State body set in 2018 up to build social and affordable housing on public and other land has been criticised in the past for the slow delivery of homes.
Mr Coleman will tell the PAC on Thursday that the agency had delivered more than 850 homes – 650 cost rental and 200 affordable for sale – by the end of last year.
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He will highlight the launch last month of phase one of Shanganagh Castle Estate, in Shankill, Dublin 18, the LDA’s first direct-delivery project on State-owned land.
[ Harris lauds Land Development Agency’s almost 600-home Dublin schemeOpens in new window ]
It includes 597 homes involving a mix of affordable purchase, cost rental and social homes.
TDs will be told that the application portal for the houses at Shanganagh Castle is live and “there is huge interest in them”.
The PAC will hear how the LDA’s cost-rental homes are designed to assist people who do not qualify for social housing but who cannot afford to rent at existing market rates.
The rents charged cover the cost of building and maintaining the homes, which are then ultimately owned by the State.
According to Mr Coleman’s opening statement, eligible candidates can secure a home at rents that are up to 30 per cent below market rates. He says the average rent for an LDA-provided home is currently €1,350 per month.
This is more than €1,000 less than the average rent on the open market in Co Dublin which stood at €2,395 in a recent report by property website Daft.ie.
Mr Coleman says: “While there is an ongoing discussion on the affordability of affordable housing to its end users… I would take this opportunity to make the point that our housing developments are in high demand.”
He adds: “There are households actively buying and already living in our affordable homes, and there are others living securely and happily in our cost-rental apartments.”
The LDA has so far sold 200 affordable homes and it rents homes to almost 1,000 households.
Mr Coleman says: “Rental collection is strong, further supporting the affordability credentials of our homes.”
The PAC will be told that, at the end of 2023, the agency had 5,600 homes in the planning and design phase and more than 1,000 under construction.
[ How far will budget measures go to improve housing delivery?Opens in new window ]
It had planning permission for a further 1,850 and planning applications lodged for an additional 900 homes.
Mr Coleman will say that the LDA has already received funding commitments of €2.5 billion.
“Based on our strong delivery pipeline, the Government announced a further €1.25 billion in funding in Budget 2025 for the LDA and has signalled its intention to raise our total capitalisation to a potential €6.25 billion, including a provision to borrow of €1.25 billion.”
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