How Brazilian cuts of meat found a place in Dublin butcher shops
"They're saying, 'No, this part!' And we're like, 'Oh yeah, we can do that for you!'"
As Dublin City Council rolls out its nine planned “family hubs”, some are asking who is going to be keeping an eye on standards and child-protection.
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.
At meetings this week, councillors discussed where exactly “family hubs” for homeless families will be, and settled on social and affordable housing figures for Poolbeg West.
As more sites are lined up for office buildings and apartment complexes, some are wondering how best to make sure that local residents benefit from the work it will bring.
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.
Dublin City Council can force owners of derelict sites to sell to them, but it has only done that rarely in the past. This year, things are beginning to change.
Last year, we ran a series of maps showing how much you needed to earn to rent an affordable one-bedroom apartment in the city. We’ve updated them and, no surprise, renting’s become pricier.
There’s a plan to build “affordable” housing on some council lands. But what does “affordable” mean, who would build it, and who would live there?
While obstacles discouraging their owners from opening them up and renting them out seem well understood, progress on smoothing the way has been slow.
“I’m curious as to why this is happening … suddenly there’s a load of it. Is it EU grant led?” asks a reader.
If your commute runs south from the city past Cherrywood, you might have noticed a row of boarded-up properties on Bray Road. Why are they empty?