Work starts on 465 homes in PPP social housing dealsocial homes under PPP deal
With housing need at record levels, work is due to get underway immediately on the construction of 150+ homes in three West Cork towns under phase two of Ireland’s first-ever public-private partnership (PPP) contract for social housing.
Clonakilty, Skibbereen, and Macroom are among eight locations nationally that will benefit from the delivery of 465 homes as part of a long-term programme of investment in social housing totalling €300m.
The new developments will include 52 homes at The Miles, Clonakilty, 50 houses at Poundhill, Skibbereen, and another 50 in Oakwood, Macroom.
Other areas to benefit include Roscommon Town, Waterford City, Galway City, Shannon, Co Clare, and Clane, Co Kildare.
The units can go ahead immediately now that the consortium leading the project — Torc Housing Partnership — has reached financial close on the deal.
Construction is expected to take 14-18 months.
The Torc Housing Partnership is a consortium led by Equitix, an infrastructure investment firm with a track record in social housing.
Equitix is partnered with Kajima Partnerships, a property and project finance investment company who are lead developers and long-term majority investors in the project.
The other investors are Spain’s Obrascón Huarte Lain SA (OHL) and Tuath Housing Association, who have a small equity stake. Tuath, a not-for-profit company, is primarily a service organisation, housing people in need and managing homes. Tuath’s CEO, Sean O’Connor, said they were looking forward “to the accelerated delivery of 465 much-needed homes in six local authority areas”.
Construction is a joint venture between Irish builder JJ Rhatigan and OHL, who are jointly responsible for design.
Currently, OHL is building the National Forensic Mental Health Hospital (NFMHS) in Portrane.
The National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) has procured the project on behalf of the County Councils through a PPP contract which includes design, build, finance, operation, management, and maintenance of the developments for a 25-year contract term.
The local authorities will own the developments at the end of the term. PPP is a means of delivering infrastructure more rapidly and at less expense to the State The complete PPP programme is expected to deliver up to 1,500 housing units over three phases and this is the second phase.
The residential developments are a critical element of Rebuilding Ireland, the Government’s action plan for addressing housing shortages and homelessness.
Some of the funding is coming from the European Investment Bank as part of Europe’s first-ever financed PPP social housing scheme.
