Local authorities can build homes for considerably less than they are paying private developers for social housing, figures published by the Department of Housing show. It found that the cost of building a three-bedroom semi-detached house in the Greater Dublin Area was €371,000. The most high-profile example is the Cairn Homes development of the former RTÉ site at Donnybrook in Dublin 4. ‘Soft costs’The SCSI report published in July said construction costs accounted for less than half the overall €371,000 average cost of building a three-bedroom home. However, these soft costs accounted for 52 per cent or €192,000 of the €371,000 total, underscoring the notion that development costs rather than construction cost are behind the high cost of housing in Ireland, it said.

Source: The Irish Times September 11, 2020 05:00 UTC