PPP contract award for 534 social housing units

• construction to start immediately in Dublin, Louth, Kildare and Wicklow
• Ireland’s first-ever PPP contract for social housing
• Europe’s first-ever European Investment Bank-financed PPP social housing scheme
• first time five Local Authorities have collaborated on a major social housing project

On behalf of the Department of Housing the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA), part of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), today announced contract award of the Social Housing Bundle 1 PPP project to the Comhar consortium.

Construction of 534 homes, across five Local Authorities in Dublin City, South Dublin, Louth, Kildare and Wicklow County Council’s, will start immediately.

The NDFA acted as agent for the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (the Sanctioning Authority) and Dublin City Council (the Sponsoring Agency on behalf of all local authorities involved).

Minister Murphy said:

“I am very pleased to confirm that the formal contracts have been signed for the first bundle of sites under the PPP social housing programme, which will deliver 534 new homes across six sites in Dublin City, South Dublin, Kildare, Louth and Wicklow County Council’s areas. This is the first of three bundles of schemes which will deliver around 1,500 new social homes and is an important and innovative delivery mechanism within Rebuilding Ireland.

I remain committed to continuing to deliver under our targets as set out under Rebuilding Ireland. This innovative way of delivering social housing through a Public-Private Partnership structure, which will secure delivery of over 500 homes in a single bundle, represents another important means that my Department are developing in order to increase our social housing stock.”

Cathy Bryce, Director of the NDFA, said:

“This is great news for over 500 families who need a home that fits their needs and a landmark development in providing new social housing in Ireland. The project includes accommodation for a wide range of citizens including some assisted living, senior citizen living and one bedroom accommodation.

For the first time ever, we are extending the PPP model, which has successfully delivered high-quality roads, schools, healthcare facilities and other public buildings for the State, to deliver social housing.

This shows PPP works for social housing and opens up an important new avenue for delivering more homes for people who need them.

I am delighted that the hard work of five local authorities, the Department, the EIB and the NDFA has led to the successful closing of this critical project and we look forward to the delivery of these homes as quickly as possible.

I would particularly like to thank the Minister Eoghan Murphy, Department of Housing and the Chief Executive of Dublin City Council, Owen Keegan, for their sponsorship and support in developing this new channel for social housing delivery.”

The Comhar consortium is 100% owned by Macquarie Capital Group Ltd. and supported by John Sisk & Son (Holdings) Ltd. as works contractor, Choice Housing as facilities management provider and Oaklee Housing as tenancy management provider. The project is being funded by the EIB, Bank of Ireland and Korea Development Bank.

Brendan Kenny, A/Chief Executive, Dublin City Council, said:

Given the scale of the social housing need facing the country and local authorities in particular, it is important that new and innovative approaches to increasing social housing supply are developed. Dublin City Council were excited to participate in this pilot Public Private Partnership programme which will see some 1500 social housing units delivered nationally.

Dublin City Council were delighted to be selected to act as Lead Local Authority for Bundle 1 of the programme which will deliver 534 homes on local authority lands within Dublin City, Kildare, Louth, South Dublin and Wicklow. I would like acknowledge the support of the Chief Executives from each of the participating local authorities and to thank their teams for their diligence and hard work which led to the successful procurement and award of contract to Comhar consortium.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Minister Eoghan Murphy, Cathy Bryce and their respective teams for their support, dedication and commitment to this programme since its inception. Dublin City Council look forward to continuing this positive working relationship in the future.

Mark Bradshaw, Head of Infrastructure Projects for Macquarie Capital in Europe and the Americas said:

“As the need for greater social and affordable housing provision continues to grow globally, awarding agencies are increasingly looking to PPP frameworks. We invest in the early development stages of projects globally, applying both balance sheet capital, development capital and infrastructure expertise to make critical projects such as this happen.

We have a longstanding relationship of over 10 years with Sisk Group, including currently being on-site together on the €250 million Grangegorman Campus and look forward to working with them, the NDFA and Choice to deliver this vital social infrastructure development for Ireland.”