The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) has completed the transfer of its social housing vehicle, National Asset Residential Property Services DAC (NARPS), and its portfolio of 1,366 homes to the Land Development Agency (LDA).
The portfolio of 1,366 homes owned by NARPS are leased on long-term leases to Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) for people who need social housing.
The transfer has taken effect on foot of a direction by the Minister for Finance to NAMA and, as a transfer between two State bodies, means the homes in the portfolio will remain in State ownership.
The €356 million value of the portfolio will form part of NAMA’s lifetime surplus, which is in the process of being transferred to the Exchequer.
The NAMA Board is projecting that NAMA’s lifetime contribution to the Exchequer will be €5.5 billion, inclusive of NAMA’s lifetime surplus of €5.05 billion and corporation tax payments of approx. €450 million.
Brendan McDonagh, the NAMA Chief Executive, said:
“Our NARPS social housing vehicle, which we devised in 2012, was a groundbreaking initiative to fast-track the delivery of social housing using assets in the NAMA portfolio.
By setting up a special company for this purpose, NAMA was able to negotiate at scale with developers and receivers, taking ownership of homes so we could deal directly with Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies to lease them as quickly as possible.
It’s an initiative that has been very successful and very effective in delivering homes for people who need them and we’re delighted that NAMA will leave a lasting and significant positive legacy in the social housing sector.”
John Coleman, the LDA Chief Executive, said:
“This is an excellent example of co-operation between two State bodies to ensure this valuable social housing portfolio remains in State ownership.
The LDA will manage this national portfolio, and we look forward to working with the Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies whose support for this initiative has been so crucial to its success.”
