Nama 'a missed opportunity to deliver affordable housing'

Over 60% of homes were sold for between €300,000 and €500,000

Just one in five of the homes delivered by Nama debtors sold for €300,000. Picture: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

The Government has been accused of allowing Nama to become a "missed opportunity to deliver affordable housing".

Social Democrats housing spokesperson Cian O'Callaghan made the claim after figures showed that just one in five of the homes delivered by Nama debtors sold for €300,000.

Mr O'Callaghan had asked Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe for details on the number of homes delivered by Nama in 2018, 2019, and 2020. He also sought details on the sale prices of the homes and was told that 17% were sold for €300,000, 61% for between €300,000 and €500,000, and 22% sold for over half a million euro. In total, debtors to Nama delivered 10,052 homes directly and indirectly in the period.

Of those, 1,099 newly built residential units were sold to firms operating in the private rented sector, with over 6,000 of the homes built in Dublin and over 1,200 in Cork.

Mr O'Callaghan said that in the teeth of a housing crisis where affordability is a key issue, the Government should have redirected Nama's remit.

"These figures show that Nama is a huge missed opportunity to deliver affordable housing," said Mr O'Callaghan. 

"The Government should have directed Nama to do this, rather delivering homes that are unaffordable. 

There's no justification for not focusing on affordable housing.

"A lot of the areas which Nama holds won't be built out for a number of years."

A spokesperson for Nama said that it is not empowered to build homes that are not commercially viable or do not yield a profit and pointed out that half of the homes sold were for less than €400,000.

“Under Nama’s legislation and in compliance with EU state aid rules, Nama can only finance commercially viable developments that are expected to yield a profit.

" Nama does not own the development sites in its portfolio; rather these are owned by private entities (debtors). Nama cannot force them to act in a manner which may hinder or reduce their repayment capacity.

"Notwithstanding the above, and as a further breakdown of the quoted figures, over half (54%) of Nama-funded homes had sales prices of less than €400k.”

Figures released by Mr Donohoe in response to parliamentary questions from a number of TDs before Christmas show that Nama debtors hold 426 hectares of land which could deliver over 20,000 homes.

However, over half of these, 11,700, can only be delivered if they prove to be viable and issues around planning, infrastructural requirements, and zoning are solved. 

However, Mr Donohoe hit out in his answers at "uninformed commentary" around what Nama can or cannot do.