What’s behind the delays?
In August 2023, Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance, the non-profit cooperative, was granted planning permission to build 34 affordable homes and 17 older-persons homes on a site near St Joseph’s National School in Ballymun.
In May 2024, the housing cooperative also got planning permission to build 32 affordable homes, two sheltered homes and a creche, at Parkview, south of Poppintree Park in Ballymun.
Both projects are stalled.
Yet, Hugh Brennan, CEO of Ó Cualann, says that they are ready to get cracking on building out both developments, and he is surprised that they have not yet got the go-ahead.
“As far as we’re concerned it’s ready to go,” he says. “What we are looking for is approval of the affordable housing fund.”
A spokesperson for Dublin City Council put forward a few reasons. There is no funding identified for the creche and sheltered homes at Parkview, they said.
Also, "current costings indicate that the cost of construction is higher than the open market value of the homes”, they said, so it is reviewing the projects because of that.
“We are currently examining ways to bridge this gap both through the Department's Affordable Housing Fund and other funding streams whilst ensuring value for money,” says the spokesperson.
In other words, the council is reviewing the project because it is concerned that existing houses in Ballymun are cheaper, said Fianna Fáil Councillor Keith Connolly.
If there was a downturn in the economy, there’s a risk the homes wouldn’t sell, he says. “There is definitely an issue with the affordability.”
Brennan, CEO of Ó Cualann, says it is true that the construction costs for new-build homes is higher than the market value of the home, but that’s not a problem because it is what the Affordable Housing Fund is there for.
“The Affordable Housing Fund bridges the gap,” he says. With it, he expects to sell three-bedroom terraced homes from €305,000, he said – a price he says meets the scheme’s criteria.
The council is aiming to deliver far fewer affordable-purchase homes than other types of housing in the coming years – envisioning just 28 this year, 200 next year, and about 320 the year after.
The reviews of the Ballymun projects, along with the scrapping of an affordable-purchase project in Finglas, and cautiousness about one in Cherry Orchard, suggests it is difficult to deliver this type home at prices the council thinks people are willing to pay to live in these lower income areas.
A spokesperson for the Land Development Agency says it plans to start building 137 affordable purchase homes in Cherry Orchard later this year. “The first new homes will be available to purchase in 2027,” says the spokesperson.
In June, Fianna Fáil Councillor Keith Connolly asked the council’s CEO, Richard Shakespeare, about the delays to delivering the homes at Parkview.
“The proposal to build 32 affordable homes at the Parkview Site is currently being reviewed, to assess whether the project delivers value for money,” said Shakespeare in the formal response.
“The review will consider construction costs, the capacity of the contractor to deliver the project within the constraints of the budget, and alignment with funding requirements,” the response said.
Following queries, a council spokesperson said that the Parkview development “cannot commence until funding is in place for all components, including the creche and the supported housing”.
Connolly, the Fianna Fáil councillor, said that a charity that had hoped to use the supported housing – the two specially adapted houses – had pulled out, which left the funding gap for those.
Connolly says he hopes that issue can be resolved soon.
The council is also reviewing another affordable housing project at St Joseph’s, said the council spokesperson. That site is also set to be developed by Ó Cualann, the non-profit developer that sells on the homes for 5 percent above the cost of delivering them.
Brennan, the CEO, says both schemes are viable as affordable-housing schemes.
To qualify as affordable purchase housing, the housing has to come out at least 15 percent below the open market value, which is decided by the council, says Brennan.
That threshold can be reached with the help of the Affordable Housing Fund, which is a government subsidy of up to €100,000 for each home, he says.
Brennan says he thinks that the council is currently reviewing all of its housing developments. “The council is carrying out counter-party financial review assessments,” he says.
A council spokesperson says that it has started doing financial reviews of contractors, it carried out one recently and is in the process of doing one for a different contractor. “This is a new process and will be undertaken as part of financial due diligence for various projects as required,” he says.
Connolly, the Fianna Fáil councillor, says he knows people who have mortgage approval and would want to buy these affordable homes.
“Construction isn’t going to get cheaper any time soon,” says Connolly. “I’d be inclined to push ahead.”
There are signs that the council is treading carefully in where and when it builds out affordable homes to buy.
Dublin City Council is aiming to build some affordable purchase homes as part of a proposed new mixed scheme in the heart of Cherry Orchard.
But officials are watching to see the level of uptake of affordable purchase homes that the Land Development Agency has planned elsewhere in Cherry Orchard, said Hazel de Nortúin, a People Before Profit councillor recently.
The council may switch the tenure in its own project to social homes, if they feel the interest isn’t there for affordable purchase, she said.
Connolly, the Fianna Fáil councillor, says that the council had originally intended to build affordable purchase homes on the Kildonan lands in Finglas.
But those didn’t go ahead. The council had concerns that the homes were not competitive with existing-house prices, he says – and has switched to use that site for social housing.
Connolly says that, in his opinion, the new-build homes should not be compared to existing second-hand homes which might need a lot of work.
“These are brand new houses,” he says. “They should go ahead and develop them any way they can.”
He knows multiple people that have mortgage approval and would be interested in new-build homes in Ballymun, he said. “I have a lot of people waiting on these.”
Brennan says he too is confident that there is a market for the homes at the prices he expects to deliver them for at Parkview and St Joseph’s. “In my view there is no doubt they will sell,” he says.
Connolly says that while the council has plans on paper for 2,000 homes in the Ballymun local area plan, it has delivered very few homes in Ballymun and Finglas in the last five years.
A housing charity is set to purchase 180 homes at Merville Road in Finglas for social housing, says Connolly.
But the council isn’t yet developing any housing projects itself despite owning a lot of land, he said. “As a councillor for the area, it is really frustrating.”
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