The Government is being urged to introduce a new funding model for social housing in the next budget in the the form of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

The Irish Council for Social Housing (ICH) said the purpose of the SPV would be to facilitate private financing of housing associations to deliver social housing which is 'off balance sheet'.

-- Advertisement --

ICSH Executive Director Donal McManus said: "The advantage of an SPV for housing associations is that they can borrow from financial investors and this is not counted as part of the Government Deficit so does not add to the national debt. This essentially means that housing associations can deliver more housing without affecting the Government balance sheet, which is not the case with the existing capital funding model and currently limits the amount of funding made available."

(CD/MH)