Plans to build 1,300 homes on vacant Dublin sites

Dublin City Council will be presenting politicians with plans for the immediate development of housing in three locations.

The plans cover 30 hectares of vacant Dublin City Council land to meet the high demand for housing in Dublin.

The council proposes to recoup an initial capital investment of €8M, through the sale of private housing and commercial development.

The plan includes the building of 1,300 homes as part of the new model of “affordable rental” as outlined in Budget 2016, at sites the council owns at Oscar Traynor Road in Coolock, O’Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7 and St Michael’s Estate in Inchicore.

The largest of the three sites, Coolock Lane, at the Santry end of Oscar Traynor Road, covers 17 hectares which the council has designated for 655 homes which will be split into six lots. The procurement process for the first lot of 76 homes is to begin in the new year and will consist of 44 houses and 32 duplex units. A total of 16 homes will be reserved for social housing, with 60 being marketed as started homes, costing in the region of €300,000.

The next phase will consist of a mix of 122 starter and market-value houses, duplexes and apartments, and 30 social homes.

The third lot will be part of council plans to use the new affordable rental model to provide 79 new homes.

A total of €10M was set aside as part of Budget 2016, from the proceeds of the same of Bord Gáis Éireann, for an affordable rental pilot scheme. The scheme will be tested by the council, who propose to set the rent this housing at 30% of the net income of the tenants or 20% of local market rent.

The council have said that this model has the potential to “guarantee a home for life”.

Over a quarter of the new housing at the O’Devaney Gardens site could be given over to the scheme. The council plans 398 homes, starting with 110, which the council have said should be considered for the affordable rental scheme.

The final site, St Michael’s Estate, has 75 houses and apartments on the site, but a substantial amount of land still remains. The council proposes 300 duplexes and apartments, with 234 being private.

This will be the largest building programme undertaken by a local authority since the property crash.

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