Nama has entered a joint venture with one of the country’s largest developers, Cairn, to build 550 homes.

Under the agreement, a new company – 75pc owned by Cairn and 25pc by Nama – has been set up to develop a site in north Dublin.

It is understood that Nama will provide the land for the joint venture. However, spokespeople for both Cairn and Nama would not comment on the value of the site.

The housing units will be built on a 14.5-acre development adjoining Cairn’s Parkside development, off the Malahide Road, in Dublin 13.

Nama has already carried out a number of ventures with private developers. This latest deal follows the recent completion of its first investment venture with Cairn, in which 71 new homes were built and sold at Parkside.

The 71 homes had an estimated gross sales value of €25m.

It is understood that the agency has no further immediate plans to enter other agreements with private developers.

Meanwhile, the Part V scheme will see a number of the houses earmarked as affordable homes.

A spokesperson for Cairn added that the company is going through the planning process.

Michael Stanley, co-founder and CEO of Cairn, said the group was “delighted” to announce its second venture with Nama.

“This will enable the investment vehicle to leverage existing infrastructure in Parkside, where Cairn has an established brand and a site team, which has delivered over 450 new homes in an area of consistently strong demand over the last three years,” Mr Stanley said.

Colin Sheridan, analyst at Davy Stockbrokers, said the deal points to two important conclusions.

“Firstly, Cairn has successfully executed the initial partnership with Nama, demonstrating an ability to deliver good quality, new homes on schedule,” Mr Sheridan said.

“Secondly, this suggests that Cairn is an ongoing viable partner for Nama in its development goals, and further opportunities with Nama may be available to the company,” he added.

In a trading update earlier this month, Cairn said it expects to report an operating profit of €53m for 2018.

This is a massive jump on the profit of €14.5m reported in 2017. Total revenue for 2018 was around €337m, up from €149.5m in 2017.

Last year, the Dublin-listed group sold 804 homes.

The average selling price was €366,000 per housing unit. Cairn will announce its results for 2018 in March.

Shares in stock-market-listed Ciarn rose slightly yesterday

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