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SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, March 12, 2007

QUESTION No. 7

QUESTION: Councillor E. Tuffy

To ask the Manager if he can advise members if there is any precise definition of the term Affordable Home/Affordable Housing in any legislation and or government guidelines relating to affordable housing which specify the selling price of an Affordable Housing Unit relative to the market value of the unit, or if the term Affordable Home/Affordable Housing can have, in terms of price, whatever  meaning that a developer or the Affordable Homes Partnership or the Minisister for the Environment wishes the term to have, eg 80% of market value?

REPLY

Affordable homes are homes provided at a discount to the market price to persons who cannot afford to purchase a home on the open market.  This definition is referred to in various Acts, i.e. Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000,( page 109), the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2002 and the Councils Housing Strategy.

The cost of an affordable home is determined as follows:

1. Where units are acquired under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) ,the price is negotiated with the developer,. The foregoing Act specifies that the developer is entitled to " the building and attributable development costs as agreed between the authority and the developer, including profit on the costs". In negotiating the price with the developer, the local authority is always conscious of the household income of the applicants on the affordable housing waiting list and the value of the maximum loan which can be advanced by the Local Authority (€185,000).

2. Units procured through joint venture arrangements (i.e Russell Square, Deerpark, Ballyowen Lane), where there is mixed tenures - a cost plan is prepared and examined by a Quantity Surveyor and Valuer with the objective of sourcing both social and affordable housing at a reasonable cost and also achieve the effective and efficient use of resources.

3. Under the Affordable Housing Initiatives (Harcourt Terrace 1 and 2), tenders were invited from Developers to exchange sites in Harcourt Terrace for affordable homes.  The best tender came from Durkan New Homes, i.e. the units on offer were considerably below market price and were considered to be a suitable exchange following examination by a valuer.

4. The most recent Government initiative was, where the Affordable Homes Partnership purchased approx. 470 units in the Greater Dublin Area (113 in South Dublin area) on the open market.  These units are being subsidised by the Government  and will be made available to eligible applicants at prices considerably below market value. They are targeted at persons on higher incomes who are not in a position to purchase on the open market.

The affordable units are less than the market value of the units and as the market value shifts so does the affordable price.