Cost Rental Feasibility Calculator
A go or no-go viability check for cost rental schemes in Ireland. Enter your development cost, funding route, and local market rent to see whether the scheme can be let at least 25% below market while covering its costs, and exactly how much State equity per unit closes any viability gap.
Cost rent is fixed at the cost rental designation stage as the cost to provide, manage and maintain the homes, recovered over a minimum 40 year period under the Affordable Housing Act 2021. This tool reproduces that calculation for STAR, CREL, the Affordable Housing Fund, and unsubsidised debt.
The rules the model encodes
Cost rental is a cost-recovery tenure, not a market product. The viability question is simple to state and hard to pass: can the rent that recovers the scheme cost land at least 25% below market, and stay affordable to the target income band?
The 25% below market rule
The set rent must be at least 25% below open market rents for comparable local properties. In the model the policy ceiling is 75% of the market rent you enter. If the cost-covering rent sits above it, the scheme is not viable at that rent without more support.
Affordable Housing Act 2021; gov.ie cost rentalCost recovery over 40 years
The initial rent is set at the cost rental designation stage to be no more than the cost to provide, manage and maintain the home, recovered over a minimum 40 year cost calculation period (50 years for STAR). Later reviews are indexed to inflation, not reset to the market.
S.I. 756/2021; RTB rent settingThe affordability ceiling
Cost rental targets middle income households: net income up to EUR 66,000 in Dublin and EUR 59,000 elsewhere, with rent no more than 35% of net income. The model flags the rent your target cohort can actually carry, not just the market discount.
S.I. 755/2021; gov.ie eligibilityThe cost-covering rent, step by step
The model annualises the financing on the capital stack, adds operating and lifecycle costs, then grosses up for voids:
annual cost = debt service (commercial) + CREL loan service + management + maintenance + insurance + sinking fund
cost rent (per month) = annual cost / 12 / (1 - void allowance)
verdict: GO if cost rent ≤ 75% of market rent AND ≤ 35% of net income; otherwise NO-GO with a viability gap
Loan payments use the standard annuity factor i / (1 - (1 + i)^-n). State equity (STAR/CREL) and AHF grant reduce the expensive commercial debt first, since CREL's own loan is already low cost.
Run a go or no-go check
Start with the headline inputs. Switch to Advanced for a full line-item development appraisal with sensitivity analysis.
Funding route
See the full appraisal
Unlock the capital stack, annual cost build-up, sensitivity table and the exact subsidy needed to close any viability gap. One work email, no spam.
By unlocking you agree we may contact you about Rentalize. Estimates only, not a determination of viability.
Funding routes and their rules
Each route changes the capital stack and therefore the rent. The calculator applies the current published terms; all figures are editable so you can model your own approved terms.
Cost Rental Equity Loan
A long term loan from the Housing Agency covering up to 30% of cost on favourable terms over 40 years, with the remaining circa 70% funded by a low interest, fixed rate Housing Finance Agency loan.
- Enhancement: a State equity element up to a maximum of 20%
- Accelerated CREL drawdowns for turn-key acquisition
- CREL coupon and HFA rate are editable in the tool
Secure Tenancy Affordable Rental
State equity to bridge the viability gap, up to EUR 175,000 per unit in Dublin and EUR 150,000 elsewhere, plus EUR 25,000 for sustainable development.
- No interest or return during the 50 year term
- State takes a proportionate equity share at exit
- Designation as cost rental for at least 50 years
Affordable Housing Fund
A direct grant subvention on local authority delivery, tiered by density and location at EUR 50k, 75k, 100k or 150k per unit. The 2024 average was about EUR 77,000 per unit.
- Grant reduces total development cost directly
- Mostly affordable purchase, also cost rental
- 95% Exchequer, 5% local authority contribution
No State support
The unsubsidised baseline. Useful to show the size of the gap the equity and grant routes are closing, and why cost rental is hard to deliver on debt alone in high cost areas.
- Whole cost financed by commercial debt
- Almost always a NO-GO in Dublin at current costs
- Quantifies the State support actually required
Built for the bodies that deliver cost rental
Cost rental in Ireland is delivered by Approved Housing Bodies, the Land Development Agency, and local authorities, each through a different funding route. This tool models the route that fits your organisation.
For Approved Housing Bodies
The AHB sector delivered over 6,000 cost rental and social homes in 2024, with the largest bodies running active cost rental pipelines. Model your scheme on the CREL route, a 30% equity loan plus HFA debt, with the option to layer in State equity to reach viability.
Software for AHBs →For the Land Development Agency
The LDA delivers cost rental directly through Project Tosaigh and STAR, with State equity averaging about EUR 128,000 per unit in 2024. Use the STAR route to test how much equity, up to EUR 175,000 per unit in Dublin, a scheme needs to land 25% below market.
Cost rental guide →For local authorities
Councils deliver cost rental and affordable homes with Affordable Housing Fund grant support, tiered by density and location. Model the AHF route to see how the grant per unit changes the cost-covering rent and the viability verdict.
Software for local authorities →Cost rental feasibility questions
How is the cost rent calculated?
+The rent is set to recover the cost of providing, managing and maintaining the home over a minimum 40 year period. The model annualises the financing on the capital stack using a standard annuity factor, adds management, maintenance, insurance and a sinking fund, then grosses up for a void allowance. That cost-covering rent is then tested against 75% of market rent and the 35% of net income affordability ceiling.
What makes a cost rental scheme a go or no-go?
+A scheme is a GO when the cost-covering rent lands at or below both 75% of the local market rent and 35% of the target net income. If the rent sits above the 25% below market ceiling it is a NO-GO at that rent, and the tool reports the viability gap and the extra State equity per unit needed to close it.
What is the difference between CREL, STAR and the AHF?
+CREL is a 30% equity loan plus HFA debt for Approved Housing Bodies. STAR is State equity up to EUR 175,000 per unit in Dublin to bridge the viability gap, open to the LDA, AHBs and private proposers. The Affordable Housing Fund is a tiered grant of EUR 50,000 to EUR 150,000 per unit for local authority delivery. Each changes the capital stack differently, so each produces a different cost rent.
How much State equity does a scheme need?
+It depends on land cost, build cost and the local market rent. The calculator computes the exact equity per unit that would pull the cost rent down to the 25% below market ceiling, and flags whether that figure stays within the STAR cap for the location. As a benchmark, LDA cost rental delivered through Project Tosaigh and STAR averaged about EUR 128,000 of equity per unit in 2024.
How are rents reviewed after the scheme opens?
+The initial rent is fixed at designation. Annual reviews are then indexed to inflation under S.I. 756/2021, using the HICP and the Consumer Price Index from 1 March 2026, rather than being reset to the market. This tool models the initial setting rent, which is the figure that determines viability.
How accurate is this calculator?
+It is an appraisal model for early stage screening, not a determination of viability. It uses the published scheme caps and a year one annuitised cost build-up. The CREL coupon and HFA rate are editable assumptions, and all policy figures default to current published values that you can override. Always confirm with the Housing Agency, the Department, and your funders before committing.
Delivering the scheme once it stacks up?
Rentalize runs cost rental delivery end to end for AHBs, the LDA and local authorities: applications and lotteries, eligibility checks, lease administration, inflation-linked rent reviews, and funder reporting.
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