Status on the creation of a housing fund

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Finance the status on the creation of a housing fund under the remit of the National Treasury Management Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

To ask the Minister for Finance the status of the National Treasury Management Agency Special Purpose Vehicle to deliver additional social housing as part of mixed-tenure developments; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

I am informed by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) that this delivery mechanism has been superseded by the Enhanced Long-Term Social Housing Leasing Scheme, which was launched on 31 January 2018.
The NTMA, in its role as the National Development Finance Agency, acted as financial advisor to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government in respect of the development of this long-term leasing model, however the NTMA has no role in relation to implementation of the scheme.
The Enhanced Long Term Social Housing Leasing Scheme is one of a suite of measures introduced under Pillar 2 of “Rebuilding Ireland: An Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness” aimed at private investment in order to deliver social housing at scale.
The principal objective of that scheme is to encourage increased levels of private investment in social housing while ensuring that the resulting leasing arrangement is off-balance sheet in respect of Government expenditure.
The scheme is targeted at new build or new to the market properties to be delivered at scale and will complement the existing long-term leasing arrangements, which will continue to be available for leasing existing properties. The scheme was launched in 2018 and the first closing was completed in June 2019.
The Housing Agency is the national co-ordinator of this scheme and manages and administers it on behalf of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and local authorities.
Further detail on this initiative is available at: https://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/social-housing/leasing/enhanced-long-term-social-housing-leasing-scheme.