Most of Fingal’s €1.43bn new capital programme to go to housing

Spending on housing is set to make up nearly two-thirds of Fingal County Council’s capital programme over the next three years.

Also, the council is inching closer to delivery of a district heating system in Blanchardstown, the programme for spending on big one-off projects from 2026 to 2028 shows

Previously stalled plans for housing up in Howth are back in motion too, and designs for the county’s first public pool are imminent, council officials say.

At the full monthly council meeting on Monday evening, Fingal’s director of finance, Oliver Hunt, gave councillors a rundown of the capital programme for the next three years.

It envisions €1.43 billion in spending. That includes €884 million for housing, with €259 million of this allocated to the construction of social homes, the programme says.

The first phase of social housing construction at Mooretown is set to cost €43 million, and the council is expected to spend more than €60 million across two phases at Ballymastone, the programme says.

Meanwhile, over in Howth, plans appear to be in motion for the delivery of social homes up on Tuckett’s Lane after the project was halted by the council back in May.

The council is now expected to spend €1.8 million on the small site over the coming three years, the programme shows.

There’s also €259 million for the council to buy homes in private developments, under the so-called Part V provision, for use as social homes.

Also, about €6 million has been lined up for the council to carry out compulsory purchase orders on vacant dwellings, the programme says.

There’s also €1.9 million in the capital programme for preparing a detailed design for a potential district heating system in Blanchardstown, David Storey, Fingal’s director of Environment Climate Action, Active Travel and Sports said on Monday. “And getting a case ready for national funding,” he said.

That project, which would use the waste heat from data centres to warm buildings in the Dublin 15 area, is estimated to cost €58 million overall, Storey said. “That’ll be a joint venture.”

Storey also had some good news for swimmers, as the council inches closer to building a pool out in Castlelands, just south of Balbriggan.

The cost of the Castlelands pool, projected back in March by the council to cost €10 million, has risen to €11 million, according to the programme.

A design is expected to come out in the next couple of weeks, Storey said, before the council intends to apply to itself for planning permission via the Part 8 process, by the end of the year.

Culture House Fingal, the council’s major new cultural centre beside Swords Castle is also progressing at a cost of €34 million, John Quinlivan, director of Economic, Enterprise, Tourism and Cultural Development said. “They’re within a day or two of programme.”

Most of the complex is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, the programme says.

The capital programme was noted by councillors.