The government’s principal Social Housing Investment Programme (Ship) in Ireland had varying average per-unit construction costs of social homes, going from €194,389 in Roscommon to a steep €386,391 in Dublin city last year. These numbers arose from the department’s internal audit of construction rates for newly constructed projects within the framework of Ship, as detailed by the Housing Minister, Darragh O’Brien, answering a parliamentary question from the housing spokesperson of Sinn Féin, Eoin Ó Broin.
The information reflects the expenditures local councils experienced in social housing construction, mainly, but not entirely, on public land. The counties with the next highest construction costs after Dublin city were Kildare (€364,123), South Dublin (€356,789), and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (€347,005). This stood in contrast to significantly lower costs in areas like Carlow (€215,423), Tipperary (€219,300), and Donegal (€230,574).
In his reply, Mr O’Brien expressed the cost disparity being subject to variables depending on the design and variety of unit types, primarily associated with the official number of bedrooms and whether the unit is a flat or a house. He also mentioned unusual requirements for each scheme, such as site access requirements, service diversions, and planned demolitions.
Generally, the cost differences between Dublin and other cities or more provincial locations echo the rising amount of high-concentration flats being constructed in city locations, which are typically more expensive to develop. Unpredictable challenges relating to each project can affect the cost, O’Brien noted.
The data indicates that the average per-unit cost of social housing under the direct-build Ship initiative last year stood around €309,700.
According to Mr Ó Broin, the figures show that, assuming land-related charges like site-servicing stay under state ownership and are detached from the final value, “you can sell the physical house for a price lower than €300,000”. He reaffirmed that, if desired by the State, it’s feasible to supply large numbers of houses through an affordable purchase scheme and sell them for less than €300,000.
The total number of new homes completed last year reached a peak not seen since the time of the Celtic Tiger in the Republic, at 32,695, consequently surpassing the government’s Housing for All objective of 29,000 houses. Nevertheless, it’s still uncertain whether the government’s 2023 goals of constructing 9,100 social homes and 3,500 affordable homes have been met since the data is still being compiled.