Revealed: The ‘mind-boggling’ unit cost of new social houses to the taxpayer [Video]

New social houses that are costing the taxpayer €640,000 each have prompted politicians to demand a full breakdown of the “runaway” costs.

A Public Accounts Committee report found that the construction cost per unit of 999 planned social houses was around €222,000.

But the Department of Housing cited “commercial sensitivity as the reason it is refusing to give a full breakdown of the costs – labelled as “mind-boggling” by one TD.

Under the contract – which is part of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model – a private firm has responsibility for maintenance of the development for a 25 year period, which raises the cost per unit to €640,000.

With construction at €222k, the additional €418,000 would work out at circa €16,720 per unit per annum on maintenance and other costs over a 25-year period.

Sinn Féin public expenditure spokeswoman Rose Conway-WalshTD, said it “doesn’t provide value for money” and claimed Government is hiding behind “commercial …