Average cost of rebuilding mica-affected homes €150k - €421k, says report

Homeowners affected by the crumbling blocks have waged a long campaign for redress, and this report is the next step ahead of Government legislation to administer the scheme expected next month. Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

The average cost of demolishing and rebuilding a home on the Defective Blocks Scheme would range between €150,000 to €421,000, an independent report has said.

The report from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland [SCSI] has said that the cost of demolishing and rebuilding Mica-affected homes would be around €145-164 per square foot when based on February 2022 prices.

Homeowners affected by the crumbling blocks have waged a long campaign for redress, and this report is the next step ahead of Government legislation to administer the scheme expected next month.

The Department of Housing commissioned the SCSI to produce an independent, construction cost report for the demolition and rebuilding of homes affected by defective concrete blocks in the north-west of the country.

The report gives a breakdown of how much it would cost to demolish and rebuild eight different types of houses in both estate and one-off housing scenarios.

Construction costs included a concrete path around the house, the disconnection and reconnection of utilities, professional fees and VAT. It did not include new foundations, making a home A-rated or contents such as carpets, loose furniture.

It would also exclude planning consent fees and engineer professional fees for eligibility for the grant scheme first announced last November.

In housing estates, the average cost to demolish and rebuild estimated by the SCSI would be:

• 2-bed terrace estate house - €149,688 - €158 per square foot
• 3-bed semi-detached estate house - €165,620 - €157 per square foot
• 4-bed semi-detached estate house - €193,456 - €159 per square foot
• 4-bed detached estate house - €200,688 - €165 per square foot The average cost of demolishing and rebuilding larger rural homes was estimated to be larger:
• 4-bed rural bungalow - €317,880 - €164 per square foot
• 4-bed rural dormer - €308,685 - €147 per square foot
• 4-bed rural two-storey - €339,150 - €150 per square foot
• 5+ bed rural two-storey - €432,470 - €145 per square foot 

Regarding other options around partial demolition and rebuilding of homes, the SCSI said it was unable to provide an accurate average estimate of the costs involved because it would be specific to each site and each home.

Last month, the Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien wrote to the Mica Action Group to tell it that the controversial sliding scale element on the €2.2 billion scheme would be removed.

The sliding scale would have seen some homeowners forced to contribute more to the cost of rebuilding their home, which they had vehemently opposed.

Minister O’Brien has today requested this report from the SCSI be analysed by the expert working group on implementing the Defective Blocks Scheme.

Mr O’Brien said he wants that working group to make suggestions on how the findings of the report may be “operationalised”.

“In addition I have formally appointed John O’Connor as liaison to the Homeowners Forum to ensure Homeowners views are represented throughout the practical progression of the scheme,” the minister said.

“Arising from [today] I intend to bring the final details of the scheme and the required primary legislation to Cabinet in April. 

"I hope that all members of the Oireachtas will facilitate a speedy passage of the Bill to allow the scheme to get started as soon as possible.”

Michael Doherty, from the Mica Action Group, said the report gave the affected homeowners a “platform with which to work with” and may be more “favourable to the homeowner” than the sliding scale system.

“This is not a done deal,” he said. 

“This is certainly a much, much better place… the SCSI has done their bit. Now we need to see the minister [O’Brien] do his… it’s probably what I would say is fair at this moment in time. This is a good day, we needed a good day.” 

Mr Doherty said some issues need to be addressed, and said that the expert panel would need to address homes which fall “between the goalposts” in terms of the eight home types set out by the RCSI.

“Options 2-5, they’re not really spelt out because they say they’re really site-specific,” he said. “In fairness, that hasn’t been our biggest gripe as a campaign. It was to do with demolish and rebuild, and the rates which we had been given which were way off.”