The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) has called on the Government to introduce a new funding model for social housing in the upcoming Budget in the form of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). The purpose of this SPV would be to facilitate private financing of housing associations to deliver social housing which is ‘off balance sheet’.
ICSH Executive Director Donal McManus explained “the advantage of an SPV for housing associations is that they can borrow from financial investors and this is not counted as part of the Government Deficit so does not add to the national debt”. “This essentially means that housing associations can deliver more housing without affecting the Government balance sheet, which is not the case with the existing capital funding model and currently limits the amount of funding made available”.
An SPV could also enable housing associations to access money from the European Investment Bank as the cheapest form of finance available. Mr Mc Manus added “we need to consider all funding options and develop new methods of accessing finance in addition to the existing models otherwise we will not be able to meet this crisis head on”.
In its pre-budget submission the ICSH proposed a number of recommendations to increase the supply of social housing to a target of 6,000 homes to be provided by housing associations and local authorities in 2015.
The ICSH is calling for increased funding of €100m for the Capital Assistance Scheme under which housing associations provide homes for special needs categories- homeless, elderly and people with disabilities. Many of these schemes could be turned around and completed over the next year.
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For queries contact: Donal McManus or Karen Murphy, ICSH, Tel: 01 6618334