Buying Homes From Developers Cost City Council Up To €40,000 More Than Building Them Directly in 2019

The Council paid an average of €306,800 for a 'turnkey house' last year, while the average cost of a direct build was €266,000. 

The figures provided by the Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien to Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin show social housing built by developers cost the County Council almost €241,000 last year, around €12,000 more than a turnkey home. 

The biggest difference between the cost of self building and turnkey was in Fingal in Dublin where the Council paid developers almost €203,000 more per unit than it would cost to build them themselves.

Sinn Féin's Eoin Ó' Broin obtained the figures, he says local authorities need to be given the support to deliver large-scale projects:

"The most cost effective way of delivering social housing is where the local authority is the developer. In many instances in Dublin and Fingal and Cork, it's almost half the price for the local authority to directly deliver social housing, than to rely on private developers through turnkey or other such mechanisms."

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