365. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the construction cost of building one, two, three, four bed homes on local authority land; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67149/26]

My Department assesses, approves and records local authority social housing delivery on a project basis, rather than on the basis of individual unit types.

My Department periodically issues Basic Unit Costs (BUCs) for each local authority area, for use as a key benchmark for the development and costing of scheme designs at the capital appraisal stage. While not a record of actual delivery costs, BUCs are based on an analysis of returned data from tendered social housing schemes over an extended period and updated based on published tender index information as required.

To monitor tender cost trends and to inform the BUCs levels, my Department analyses the tender data for the construction cost element of new build schemes approved under SHIP and under the Capital Assistance Scheme for each unit type, where sufficient information is available to allow such costs to be extrapolated and where the information available is appropriate for comparison purposes.

Outlined in the tables below are average construction costs (incl. VAT) per unit type, recorded as part of the aforementioned analysis for projects tendered in 2025 (and 2026 to date).

The tables also set out the range of costs that make up this average for each unit type. The range of costs recorded vary, depending on design, location and on the level of abnormal requirements for each scheme (e.g. existing site conditions, demolitions, service diversions and site access requirements). Abnormal costs are also separately identified in the tables below.

The costs in the above table relate to the construction element only of the all-in delivery cost. Other items that make up the all-in total include:

Design/technical fees• : Design fees vary from project to project, depending on the location, size and complexity of a scheme (and depending on whether design services are provided by a local authority in-house or via external appointment). As a guideline/indicator, design fees are generally expected to range between 7.5% to 12.5% of construction costs.

Land cost• : Land costs will vary significantly from project to project, depending on location and ownership status (i.e. land costs could vary from existing local authority land at no cost to land purchased at market value).

Utilities• : Connection fees for Irish Water, ESB, gas, etc. As a guideline/indicator, utility connection costs are generally in the order of €7k per unit.

Other Costs• : Other items that make up the all-in delivery cost can include site investigations/surveys, archaeological requirements, Percent for Art contributions - and will vary from scheme to scheme.

Construction cost