There is a huge amount of confusion over how Affordable Homes are funded. A statement from the AHP on the affordablehome.ie forum said:

"Affordable homes are acquired through a number of different delivery mechanisms. That means the local authority can build homes on their own sites and sell them to affordable applicants at a discount because they don't have to factor in the cost of the land, only the cost of the construction and do not have to factor in a profit either, therefore they can be discounted in that way. Other affordable homes are acquired directly from the developer, where the local authority agree to a discounted price. Other affordable housing is provided to applicants where a direct subsidy is paid to the developer and the applicant pays a lower price as a result. Discounts are in the region of 20% to 40% off the market value."

So apart from the AHP handing over tax payers money to developers in the form of a direct subsidy, this all seems to be above board. Surely when the AHP acquire homes directly from the developer, they negotiate a decent deal on behalf of the taxpayers who are subsidising these homes? Well, you decide. Its very difficult to get details on deals negotiated between AHP and developers. Are we getting value for money? Make your own mind up based on this article published in the Sunday Business Post on February 3rd 2008.

"Taxpayers pay price for affordable housing"
http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2008/02/03/story30144.asp

At a time when many first-time buyers were complaining that new homes were unaffordable, the scheme helped those on lower incomes to buy their own homes at prices significantly less than their then market value.
It worked like this. The AHP agreed to buy the homes from developers at a discount to the market price. The discount available to the AHP amounted to an average of about €8,000 per home. The AHP then made grants available to eligible purchasers to help them complete the purchase of the homes. The grants were generally €100,000 per home.
For example, figures supplied by the AHP show it agreed to buy a three-bed semi-detached house at Cluain Ard, Sea Road, Arklow, from builders Harry Kavanagh. The house had a floor area of 87 square metres. The market price last spring was €338,000.
However, the ultimate buyer under the scheme paid just €231,000 - or €107,000 less than the market price.
Assuming the grant was the usual €100,000, the discount was about €7,000 - equivalent to a discount of about 2 per cent on the open market price. While developers offer properties at a reduced rate, they are guaranteed a buyer from the AHP.
However, given that property prices nationally fell by over 7 per cent on average last year, the timing of the purchases appears questionable from the taxpayers’ point of view.
In recent weeks, this newspaper posed as a potential first-time buyer of a three-bed room semi-detached house at Cluain Ard. The sales agent said prices had fallen by between 5 and 7 per cent for new homes in the scheme compared with last year, while there was a secondhand home in the scheme available at 10 per cent less than last year’s market price.

The AHP negotiated a hefty 2% discount on the purchase of 46 homes in Wicklow, at a time when the market had fallen 7% and was in a downward trajectory. Does this sound like value, or a dig out? This is the tax that the government have taken from your paycheck being put to work.