Housing Infrastructure Services Company: Delivering infrastructure for new homes

The Housing Infrastructure Services Company, (HISCo), provides a ‘design-build-finance’ service for housing estate infrastructure, on fully commercial terms, to developers and landowners. Such services include roads, footpaths, cycle lanes, water, and wastewater facilities, (mains and connections), amenity areas, utilities, public lighting, etc.

In addition to on-site infrastructure, we also provide solutions to associated off-site infrastructure deficits e.g. roundabouts, bridges, link roads, wastewater treatment plants etc. For example, HISCo was engaged by two developers in Drogheda to construct Phase One of the Port Access Northern Cross Route which services more than 5,000 homes in the area. We have also delivered the enabling Infrastructure that will ensure the delivery of 753 homes across six neighbourhoods on the northside of Cork city.

HISCo’s main objective is to increase the number of units, and the mixture of tenures, available to those trying to secure a home in Ireland. The unique element of our business is that HISCo will recover its investment in the infrastructure via an infrastructure fee deducted from the proceeds of the sale, or first letting, of each housing unit.

By working in partnership with HISCo, a developer is securing access to patient investment capital to construct infrastructure crucial and necessary for the delivery of residential units. To date HISCo has directly facilitated the delivery of almost 3,000 homes on private, social and affordable housing developments in Drogheda, Bantry, Cóbh, Ballyvolane Cork city, Kilkenny and Douglas, providing on-site and off-site infrastructure. HISCo’s support provides a cashflow break for these developers, as payment is not required until the sale of the individual units.

Our guiding principles are as follows:

• projects to be considered must be predominantly residential; however, there is recognition that most schemes will contain retail and/or commercial elements;
• schemes that contain a good mix of accommodation types and tenures will be welcomed;
• unit types and prices will be assessed in terms of marketability;
• there must be an identifiable element of infrastructure that HISCo can deliver at a rea-sonable cost; and
• the scheme must have planning approval before being considered for final approval by HISCo, (early discussion of projects is welcomed).

HISCo projects are managed, designed, and constructed by professionals who have experience and expertise in the delivery of residential infrastructural schemes. We also have the option of collaborating with the developer’s design team and preferred infrastructure contractor.

W: www.hisco.ie

The joint shareholders of HISCo are the National Treasury Management Agency, (as controller and manager of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund), and Cork County Council.