Whatever is decided, Dublin City Council doesn’t plan to cover the costs. Instead, it wants a private operator to come in and deliver a facility or activity.
Government LIHAF subsidies to private developers, meant in part to produce affordable housing, might produce a 0.5 percent discount on a €470,000 home.
The government has chosen the housing projects that will get LIHAF money, which requires developers to commit to some affordability. But it seems it doesn’t have final agreements on how much.
Richard Florida, author of 2002’s “The Rise of the Creative Class”, is back with a follow-up that looks at soaring housing prices in the world’s most successful cities, and offers some solutions.
Plans for the Poolbeg SDZ would make 10% of 3,500 homes social housing. Councillors want to double or triple that, and add affordable housing too. They’re preparing for a showdown.
A project by developer Hines in Cherrywood, for example, got €15.19 million in funding, meant to encourage affordable housing, for which there is as yet no plan in place.
We are witnessing another round of finance-driven urban development, a fact which speaks to the current poverty of imagination and ambition among those who hold the levers of power.
Dublin City Council is set to discuss options today for working with private players to build homes on several council-owned plots. Councillors are wary of public-private partnerships and intent on construction of social and affordable housing.
