Housing Minister pulls plug on almost 500 social homes across six sites over rising costs

ALMOST 500 HOMES have been delayed after Housing Minister James Browne pulled the plug over concerns about the costs involved in the multimillion euro project.
The social housing developments were understood to be near shovel-ready and were to be delivered under a public private partnership (PPP) scheme across six sites.
Up to 244 of the homes were planned for Dublin and the others are spread across Kildare, Wicklow and Sligo.
It is unclear when the homes will now be delivered, but the Housing Minister stressed tonight in a statement to
The Journal
that the government aims to to deliver them 'as expeditiously as possible' through an 'alternative procurement and delivery strategy'.
The decision is set to have significant ramifications, as the department confirmed this evening that housing officials will now carry out a review of four upcoming PPP bundles – each earmarked to contain hundreds of homes.
'After careful evaluation of the costs associated with the 486 homes which were to be delivered under PPP Bundle 3, the Department has decided not to proceed with contract award on a value for money basis,' Browne said tonight.
'The department and the relevant local authorities remain fully committed to delivering the social housing that PPP Bundle 3 was designed to provide. These social homes are very much needed and remain a priority for Government, my Department and the relevant Local Authorities.'
Brown said that all six sites have 'full planning permission' and that the department is determined to deliver the homes quickly under a new procurement and delivery strategy.
The sites that have been hit by the delay are:
68 homes at the Ready Mix Site, East Wall Road, Dublin 3;
93 homes earmarked for older people in Shangan Road, Ballymun, Dublin 9;
83 homes in Collins Avenue, Whitehall, Dublin 9;
73 homes in Ardrew, Athy, Co. Kildare;
106 homes in Burgage More, Blessington, Co. Wicklow;
and 63 homes in Rathellen, Finisklin, Sligo.
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It is not yet known how much the project was set to cost the taxpayer but inflation has been an increasing issue in the housing sector in recent years.
In the two previous public private partnership projects, delivered under the same process, final capital spend was €119 million and €129 million respectively.
Homes in the latter of those projects costed on average €277,000, excluding VAT.
Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said the sudden reversal means the minister needs to provide funding to local councils to deliver the homes directly with contractors 'without any further delay'.
'I have always argued that PPPs don't represent value for money for the taxpayer. It's somewhat ironic the government are now saying they don't believe PPPs are good value for money,' Ó Broin told
The Journal
.
He said that the schemes are a poor way to deliver social housing, partly due to the complex structure requiring up to five different partners for each housing project.
'The most important thing now – on foot of the minister's decision – is what he's going to do to deliver, as a matter of urgency, these homes which are badly needed,' Ó Broin added.
'Homelessness is rising, house prices are rising, waiting lists are rising, council waiting lists are rising. This needs to be resolved as soon as possible.'
This week's halting of the PPP scheme is likely to pile further pressure on the government over its housing delivery numbers.
The government came under fire in recent months for missing its overall 2024 housing target of 40,000 homes by a margin of 10,000.
And it came in for
further criticism in April
when it emerged that it had fallen short of its social housing target for last year by 18%, amounting to 2,345 homes.
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