Head of Land Development Agency was warned about questions on affordability of 'affordable homes'
John Coleman, Chief Executive of the Land Development Agency. His briefing was prepared ahead of the launch last September of 51 new homes at Shanganagh Castle Estate in Dublin. File picture: Michael O'Sullivan / OSM PHOTO
THE boss of the Land Development Agency (LDA) was briefed to prepare for questions on the difficulties in getting state agencies to part with valuable land and whether the agency should get a slice of the Apple tax funds.
A Q&A document prepared for the CEO John Coleman also warned about queries over how affordable ‘affordable homes’ really are.
The briefing was prepared ahead of the launch last September of 51 new homes at Shanganagh Castle Estate in Dublin. It said Mr Coleman should be ready to answer questions on whether it was challenging to get other state agencies to hand over unused land for development.
The suggested answer said: “No. We are developing a steady pipeline of state-owned land with more sites becoming available.
“In our Report on Relevant Public Land we identified a series of sites with the potential to deliver a high number of homes, but we were clear at the time that this document was the start of a discussion with the state bodies involved to explore the possibility of using the lands in question for housing.”
At the time of the launch, Sinn Féin had suggested the abolition of the Land Development Agency with councils funded to build homes instead.
The Q&A suggested saying: “I don't believe that abolishing the LDA would make sense. You can see first-hand here today the value of [us] in delivering high quality homes at scale.”
On whether the agency should get a chunk of the €14 billion Apple tax windfall, the briefing said they were ready to increase targets for housing if asked.
A suggested answer said: “Funding is a matter for government, and I note that housing has been mentioned as one of the sectors that could be prioritised when it comes to the upcoming budget and any decision on the Apple money.
“However, I am heartened by recent remarks by the minister and the Tánaiste about potentially using some of that money to further capitalise the LDA.”
The LDA CEO was also advised to be prepared for questions around whether the homes being launched were “really affordable”.
The Q&A response suggested was: “If you take the example of the 51 affordable purchase homes, a two-bed can be purchased for €334,600 when the Local Authority equity share is taken into account.
“This is significantly below the cost of similar new homes on the open market, so the buyer in this case is getting an excellent high-quality, brand new, A-rated home in a super development in a wonderful location at an affordable cost.”
The briefing said the value was “undeniable” when compared to market prices in the same location with new two-bed houses costing around €550,000 and three-bed homes starting at €565,000.
