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 warned as well about queries over whether the agency should be abolished and just how affordable “affordable homes” really were.
The briefing was prepared ahead of the launch last September of 51 new homes at Shanganagh Castle Estate in South Dublin.
It said Mr Coleman should be ready to answer questions on whether it was challenging to get other state agencies to give 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,” it added.
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 said: “The LDA acts on policies set by the government and that would remain the case even if there was a change of government”.
“However, I don’t believe that abolishing the LDA would make sense. You can see firsthand here today, the value of [us] in delivering high quality homes at scale,” it added.
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.
“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,” a suggested answer said.
“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,” it added.
A list of key messages was also prepared for Mr Coleman suggesting he should highlight how the homes being launched had been “delivered ahead of time and on budget.”
The LDA CEO was advised as well 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 2-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,” it added.
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.
A spokesperson for the LDA said: “The document was a briefing note which considered potential media queries relating to the launch of Shanganagh Castle Estate”.
“The briefing note posed hypothetical potential questions and included potential responses that could provide useful information based on the LDA’s ongoing activity and progress to date,” the spokesperson said.
“The questions asked in the document do not reflect the views of the LDA. The briefing note should only be considered in the context of the exercise in question,” they added.
Reporting by Ken Foxe
