Tuesday 16 January 2007

Carroll fights Dublin City Council over affordable housing

This article by Shane Ross in the Sunday Indo' has been on my desk for a couple of days. This is my first chance to put it up:

A ROW has broken out between controversial builder Liam Carroll of Zoe Developments and Dublin City Council over a multimillion-euro development near the IFSC.
Mr Carroll, a veteran of many property battles, is resisting plans from the council to take the normal 20 per cent requirement for affordable housing destined for local people.
Two apartment blocks built by his company (now renamed Danninger) are involved. Under the scheme Carroll is obliged to surrender units for social housing, but is entitled to compensation.
The two blocks, one in the north docklands and the other in the north inner city, contain flats worth in the region of €400,000. Carroll's company is disputing the number of flats it is obliged to provide for affordable housing under the act. The council is seeking 30 units in one project and 16 in the other.
Mr Carroll owns a massive landbank of 40 acres in the docks area, so any decision has huge financial implications for his company, Dublin City Council and local residents. If the row is not settled this week, it is likely to end up in arbitration or even in court.
Local TD Tony Gregory last night protested strongly against Mr Carroll's action. "Mr Carroll's resistance to handing over the units - which are already allocated to local people - is causing great hardship for those who have been waiting for months to move in," said the TD.

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