COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, July 14, 2025

QUESTION NO. 40

QUESTION: Councillor F. Timmons

To ask the Chief Executive would he issue a report into the cost of building a one, two, three and four bed home in SDCC and the alternative cost of buying same on the open market to ensure value for money for the taxpayer ?

REPLY:

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage issue basic unit cost guidelines to local authorities for new build social housing schemes, examples are outlined in the table below based on the maximum permitted by unit type: 

Unit type Max all-in costs
1 Bed house €377,200
2 Bed house €406,600
3 Bed house €422,500
4 Bed house €466,800
1 Bed apartment €427,600
2 Bed apartment €455,900
3 Bed apartment €492,800

SDCC strives to ensure value for money in all social housing building projects to provide housing accommodation for all needs. It is difficult to compare local authoritity housing delivery with private provision on the open market as numerous factors have an impact on the open market value of a property such as location, property size/specification, alterations made to properties, additional fees associated with a purchase etc..

There are several characteristics applicable to the delivery of social housing by the local authority which will not apply to private provision. Issues such as the application of public procurement rules and the impact of policy shifts, application of differing standards in the use of construction materials, etc. The one-off nature of many local authority housing construction contracts also reduces considerably the scope for economies of scale across project delivery.