Social Housing Development Advisory Service

Social Housing is a vital part of the housing market in Ireland and it is provided by a local authority or an approved housing body to people who are unable to afford housing from their own resources.

Both providers are the primary delivery channels of Social housing units with a total of approx. 175,000 units throughout the country. The tenure across this sector is 78% owned, 11% managed and 11% long term leased.

1. Local authorities are the main providers of social housing support in Ireland. There are 31 Local authorities in Ireland that manage over 140,000 homes.
2. Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) are independent, not-for-profit organisations. They use a mixture of private finance and state funding through local authorities to provide housing.

Click image to read full article from the public sector magazine (pg 114)

Note: There are approx. 550 AHBs in Ireland managing over 35,000 homes. 254 AHBs are regulated, however these organisations manage 90% of social housing units within the sector which designates AHBs by ‘Tier’, depending on their size;

• Tier 1 comprises 159 AHBs with 0-50 units i.e. voluntary operations, represents 10% stock
• Tier 2 comprises 78 AHBs with 50-300 units i.e. mid size, represents 20% stock
• Tier 3 comprises 17 AHBs with more than 300 units i.e. manage 70% stock

Target

Under the Government’s Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan 2016, it set a target of 50,000 new social housing homes to be delivered by 2021, through local authorities and AHBs.

Over the 5 year period 2016-2021, the overall target ratio is broken down as follows:

• Build: 66% or 33,000;
• Acquisition: 14% or 7,000;
• Leasing: 20% or 10,000.

Progress – at the end of 2019, 21,000 units have been delivered which leaves 29,000 to be built, bought or leased for social housing homes over the next 2 years, 2020-2021.

How Beacon Capital can help?

With this in mind, Beacon Capital are leading the charge and have successfully built relationships with key stakeholders delivering over 1,500 units. Newly appointed Alan Deering will bring enhanced knowledge in this sector and will work with property developers to bring them through the process from start to finish.

What we do?

We guide you through the various options available when dealing with Local Authorities & AHBs such as turnkey developments, sale or leasing arrangements. We carry out a detailed appraisal using innovative financial techniques and we coordinate a capital raising package to fund the scheme. We assess the market opportunity to add real value beyond simply raising the finance.

Beacon Capital take a proactive approach and hands on experience offering a step by step guide;

1. Introduction & property overview
2. Feasibility analysis on zoned land or land with planning
3. Strategy review to assess social housing exit options
4. Manage the process with the preferred AHB/Local Authority
5. Completion/Execution of Sale or Lease strategy

Who can avail of this service?

The service offering is available to all existing Beacon Capital clients and it complements our existing expertise. Our clients include;

• Developers – We assess their funding requirements and we can provide off market development opportunities to developers on our approved database.
• Investors & Land Owners – We analysis the asset for development potential and create the highest and best use value to the land owner.
• Architects – We work closely with Architects to deliver the most efficient scheme and offer advice to add value to your clients.
• Solicitors – We value the legal relationships and we assist in the due diligence of complex property negotiations.
• Agency – We consult with local and national estate agents by sharing referral fees and provide a feasibility analysis of the asset.

For more information – please fill in the request call back form or contact Alan Deering:  alan.deering@beaconcapital.ie