Minister urged to prevent ‘betrayal’ over Poolbeg social housing

Dublin City councillors have called on the Minister for Housing to intervene to prevent an appeal over plans to build almost 1,000 social and affordable houses at the Irish Glass Bottle site on Dublin’s Poolbeg peninsula. Last May, the council said it reached a deal with then minister for environment Simon Coveney, Nama and receiver that State funding would be made available to bring the number of social and affordable homes in Poolbeg up to 900. However, the plans were recently appealed by the site’s receiver Deloitte which wants to reduce the number of social and affordable homes to a maximum of 350.

Read the full article @ Irish Times

Council selling homes below cost on golf land

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council stands to lose millions when it sells apartments that it bought from developer Cosgraves at the height of the boom

SIXTY-THREE cut-price apartments go on sale from €136,000 today in Dún Laoghaire aimed at buyers on the affordable housing list and first-time buyers.

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLRCOCO) is taking a serious hit after agreeing to pay developer Cosgraves an average €250,000 – a price agreed in 2006, at the height of the boom – for the one and two-bedroom social and affordable apartments on the grounds of the former Dún Laoghaire Golf Club. It will lose 24 per cent or more on each affordable unit.

The apartments are being sold at prices from €136,000, by far the lowest in the area. Affordable buyers – those who are on the council’s affordable housing list – will get priority, but the units are also available on the open market at €170,000. First-time buyers will also get priority.

Two-beds will cost buyers on the council’s affordable list from €184,000, while open market buyers will pay from €230,000 for the same units. Lisney is handling the sales.

The council will allocate the remaining 80 apartments (of a total 143) in the circular complex – which faces onto a central courtyard with a small toddlers’ playground and a set of stairs leading to an underground car park – to people on its social housing list.

The scheme, called Honeypark, is the first phase of a large development planned by Cosgraves on the 78-acre golf club lands where it has permission to build a mix of 840 units. This phase is just beside the roundabout at the junction of Glenageary Road Upper and Kill Avenue.

It is coveniently located: Mounttown Road Lower runs straight down from the roundabout to the town of Dún Laoghaire while Oliver Plunkett Road leads from the roundabout to Monkstown Avenue. There is a 45A and 75 bus stop right at the gates, and the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) is nearby on Kill Avenue. A shuttle bus from the scheme to Dún Laoghaire Dart station is promised.

The Cosgrave Group plans to put houses in the scheme on sale in spring 2011. “We are immediately commencing our next phase of the development which will comprise a park, local retail centre and four and five-bedroom family homes, which we expect to launch in early spring,” Peter Cosgrave said yesterday. The company is in negotiations with an anchor tenant for the neighbourhood shopping centre to be built on Glenageary Road Upper near the Kill Avenue roundabout.

Five terraced townhouses beside the entrance to the scheme – they are on a road that will eventually extend right through it – will be finished by Christmas but are not yet for sale.

The apartments are in 10 adjacent four-storey “core blocks”, each core having between 12 and 16 apartments, its own entrance and its own lift to the basement. The units are a good size and come with patios at ground level or good-sized balconies above.

In the four affordable blocks, balconies are at the back, looking out over the tree-filled site stretching up towards Rochestown Avenue. (Many of the trees will presumably come down to make way for Honeypark’s expansion.)

The units are a decent size: one-bed apartments range from 48.3-59.5sq m (520-640sq ft), the two-beds from 71-764sq m (764-813sq ft). Good-sized entrance halls open into open-plan livingrooms where kitchens are at one side of the room. Appliances aren’t included but kitchens come with tiled counter-tops, a good range of cabinets and tiled floors. In the show units, the floors throughout are oak and doors are oak-veneer. Bathrooms have white sanitary ware, fully tiled floors, showers over baths. Main double bedrooms have a fitted wardrobe. In the hall, there are also shelved storage cupboards and more storage space in walk-in cupboards where heat exchange system units are housed.

Cosgraves is proud of its communal – although individually-controlled – gas-fired central heating /water heating system all generated from a modest-sized boiler in the underground car park.

It expects BER ratings of B1 to A3 and says that homeowners should have low heating bills, around €450 a year for one-beds to €600 for two-beds. (It bases this estimate on bills in another Cosgrave development, Landsdowne Gate; it expects bills in Honeypark will be 10 per cent cheaper, as it has perfected its heating systems. It also has a ventilation system removing stale air without opening windows through ceiling-mounted grilles .

Each apartment comes with a car-parking space.

The management fees are €1,456 for two-bedroom apartments and just over €1,000 for one-beds. A management company has been set up.

Purchasers who have been refused mortgage finance from lending agencies may qualify for the Council’s Home Purchase Loan scheme.

What's available and who can buy it

DÚN Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCOCO) has about 80 apartments for sale under its affordable housing scheme in eight different developments around the county, at prices ranging from €128,000 for one-beds in the Belfry and Belarmine in Stepaside, Co Dublin to €248,000 for a two-bed in Beacon South Quarter in Sandyford, Dublin 18. It has sold about 75 affordable homes so far this year.

These apartments are also for sale on the open market at prices around 20 per cent over those affordable prices. Lisney is handling all the sales for the council.

DLRCOCO currently has 1,900 people on its affordable housing list, and information about the 63 new apartments going on sale today at the Honeypark scheme has already been texted to them.

Roughly speaking, people earning less than €58,000 a year qualify to buy affordable housing in Dún Laoghaire – the rules governing eligibility for affordable housing vary from one local authority to another. In Dún Laoghaire, the rules take into account after-tax income and other individual factors.

If a property is sold within 20 years of buying it, DLRCOCO will clawback 20 per cent of the proceeeds – unless that brings the amount below the price paid.

DLRCOCO is committed to buying another 27 social and affordable units from Cosgrave Developments in this phase of the Honeypark scheme, but there’s no agreement yet on when they will be built or available.

An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for 848 houses and apartments to be built in the first phase of the development on this part of the site, the south side of Glenageary Road Upper, in 2008.

Another 20 per cent of the 605 houses and apartments to be built in the second phase of the Cosgrave scheme should be given to the council for social/affordable housing.

But although An Bord Pleanála gave the developer planning permission in August this year to build the second phase planned – on the north side of Glenageary Road Upper, closer to the town – it is likely to be a long time before anything is built there. In all, a total of 1,500 houses and apartments are planned on the golf club lands.

Under planning laws, developers must provide 20 per cent of any residential development to local authorities for social and affordable housing at a discount from market prices. But after the property crash, most local authorites found themselves with affordable homes that cost them more than the new lower market prices.

Golf green gives way to housing

THE redevelopment of the Dún Laoghaire Golf Club site has proved controversial since the Cosgrave Property Group bought it in 2002. From the beginning, many local residents opposed the plan to cover the 78-acre green space, bisected by Glenageary Road Upper, with housing.

But in 2002, golf club members agreed to sell the land in exchange for €20 million and a new course in Enniskerry.

The site – 47 acres on the south side of the road, where Honeypark has been built, and 31 on the north side bordered by Tivoli Road – was controversially rezoned in 2004 after then Minister for the Environment Martin Cullen issued a directive to the council to do so to provide extra housing. And permission was ultimately granted for around 1,400 houses and apartments, despite rows between locals in favour of the status quo and a council insisting that it had to provide for Dún Laoghaire’s future housing needs. The developer’s plans for the site also include a public park, green spaces and a creche.

Controversy continued this year, when mature trees on Glenageary Road Upper were cut down to make way for road widening for the new scheme. Right now, the junction with the Kill Avenue roundabout is a bewildering tangle of barriers and yield signs. But people wishing to view Honeypark will be able to drive in through a clearly marked entrance from today, says selling agent Lisney.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Government to pay local council property debts

MORE THAN €30 million in debts accrued by Dublin City Council on loans for undeveloped housing land are to be paid off by the Government under a scheme to halt the mounting debts of local authorities.

Every local authority in the State is expected to apply for the land aggregation scheme which will allow them to offload land bought for social and affordable housing but unlikely to be developed following the the collapse in the property market.

Under the scheme the loans will be repaid by the Department of the Environment and the land transferred to the recently established Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency.

The agency will then determine the future use of the land and will consult the National Asset Management Agency to determine the best use of all land banks controlled or owned by the State.

Information on loans for almost 2,000 hectares of local authority lands at more than 600 locations around the State have been submitted by city and county councils to the department since details of the scheme were issued last April.

The local authorities could choose to retain some of these lands if they believe there is a prospect of development in the near future, but most are likely to apply to transfer most of the undeveloped land to the new agency.

Dublin City Council had bought parcels of land at Belcamp Lane in Darndale and Ayrfield in Donaghmede, both of which are just inside the county boundary with Fingal, with the intention of building social and affordable housing.

The land was bought for about €22.4 million, but mounting interest payments have pushed the debt to more than €30.9 million.

The north Dublin lands are not the only undeveloped residential lands on which the council has outstanding loans, but in other locations the council believes it may still be able to achieve a return on the asset and begin repayment.

Fine Gael housing spokesman Terence Flanagan said the Government was trying to cover up the bad decision-making and millions in losses made by local authorities during the boom years by taking bad loans off local authorities’ books.

“Rather than the local authority coming clean and going public to explain the bad decisions made they are being advised to transfer these losses to their own version of Nama,” Mr Flanagan said.

Taxpayers, many of whom were facing the repossession of the family homes, were being asked to bail out local authorities, he said.

However, a spokesman for the Department of the Environment said the scheme was in fact saving money for the taxpayer.

By paying off the loans now the clock was being stopped on the mounting interest owed, he said. The removal of the burden of servicing the mounting debts on the loans would free up more local authority finances to spend on services for the public.

The land taken over by the agency may still be available to local authorities for social housing projects in the future.

However, the local authorities will have to seek the approval of the agency before they can develop or use any lands. It is also possible that lands acquired by Nama could be combined with adjacent land banks taken from the local authorities for social housing projects.

The department expects to begin receiving applications for the scheme from local authorities in the coming days. Where lands are deemed suitable for the scheme the local authority management will need the sanction of councillors before the transfer can take place.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Council faces huge glut of social and affordable housing

DÚN LAOGHAIRE-Rathdown County Council is facing a battle with developers to stop a €42 million bill for social and affordable housing from spiralling upwards by tens of millions.

The council has already agreed to pay Cosgrave Developments in the region of €42 million on completion of 170 social and affordable homes within a complex of 848 houses and apartments on the former Dún Laoghaire Golf Club lands.

The development, which was granted permission by An Bord Pleanála just over two years ago, was the first phase of the 1,500-unit residential scheme on the 78-acre site. The planning board yesterday granted permission for the second phase of the development – a further 605 apartments and houses.

The grant of permission leaves the council facing a further glut of social and affordable housing which it cannot afford to buy.

Under the Planning and Development Acts, developers must provide 20 per cent of any residential development to local authorities for social and affordable housing at a discount from market prices agreed after planning permission is granted but before the houses are built.

The scheme worked during the boom years where there were long waiting lists of first-time buyers eager to qualify for a lower cost home within a development and prices rose between the date permission was granted and the completion of construction.

However, with developers slashing their prices most local authorities have found themselves with affordable houses that are now more expensive than similar private houses and apartments.

In relation to phase one of the golf club scheme, the council agreed to pay an average of more than €250,000 each for apartments ranging from one to three bedrooms. While the council would face lower market values for the apartments than in mid-2008, it is still likely to be unwilling to spend more money for housing for which it has no demand. A spokeswoman for the council yesterday said negotiations with the developers would begin as soon as possible.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Council faces €42m bill for affordable homes in Dun Laoghaire

DÚN LAOGHAIRE Rathdown County Council faces a bill of €42 million upon completion of 170 social and affordable homes on the former Dún Laoghaire Golf Club lands.

The council has to pay Cosgrave Developments €35.6 million of the money owed when the first 143 social and affordable units are finished and handed over to the council later this year. The homes are being built on a corner of of the site, at the junction of Glenageary Road Upper and Kill Avenue. Cosgraves is one of the top 10 development companies whose loans have been transferred to Nama.

The agreement over pricing was made in June 2008 when planning permission for the scheme was granted by An Bord Pleanála.

The remaining proposed 27 units, made up of five social and 22 affordable units, will cost the council a further €7.3 million, if they are granted planning permission and built.

The amount owed to Cosgrave Developments was revealed at a council meeting on Monday in response to a question by independent councillor Victor Boyhan asking that a report on the cost of the units be provided.

In relation to the social units, the council has agreed to pay an average of €149,284 each for 20 one-bedroom units, €250,062 for 46 two-bedroom units and €310,480 for 19 three-beds.

For the affordable units, the 21 one-bedroom units were €178,490, the 62 two-beds were €293,109 and two three-beds were €310,480.

The council’s housing department has asked the Department of the Environment to fund the 85 social housing units in the scheme, for which the cost is over €20 million.

The council currently has 2,026 applicants on its affordable housing list, and says it is “optimistic” about selling on the units in the Cosgrave development to suitable applicants.

When asked how the council’s budget would be affected if there’s insufficient take-up of the units, a spokesperson from the council said “demand from applicants for affordable housing already provided in the Dún Laoghaire area has been high, therefore we are optimistic that there will be a demand for the apartments in the golf club development”. The council says it is anticipating capital expenditure of around €180 million in 2010, but says this figure is subject “to the availability of funding and/or the resolution of legal or other issues”.

Next week Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council plans to put 117 affordable units in Stepaside and Sandyford on the open market due to lack of interest from applicants on the affordable housing list. The acquisition cost of these units was €27.5 million.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Council's €27.5m properties may go on sale with reserve tag

DÚN LAOGHAIRE-Rathdown County Council bought properties from developers at a cost of €27.5 million.

They were acquired under the Planning and Development Acts, which stipulates developers must provide 20 per cent of any residential development to local authorities for social and affordable housing.

The 50 one-bed apartments, 52 two-beds and 15 three-beds are in eight developments in Sandyford, Stepaside, Dundrum, Dún Laoghaire, Rathfarnham and Leopardstown.

Some 54 of the apartments are in one development, The Belfry, Enniskerry Road, Stepaside. The Gallops in Sandyford contains 23 of the properties and Belarmine Plaza, also on the Enniskerry Road in Stepaside, contains 21.

The properties had all been offered to the 1,900 applicants on the affordable housing waiting list at prices from €132,000 to €180,000. They were discounted more than once to keep them 20 per cent cheaper than the open market.

However there were no interested purchasers under the affordable housing scheme, which includes a claw-back penalty requiring buyers who sell their properties within 20 years to pay back a percentage of the profit.

The council also carried out a random survey of more than 100 applicants on the waiting list to ascertain why they did not want to buy any of the properties.

Some 20 per cent of applicants were no longer in a financial position to purchase or could not secure a mortgage, while 14 per cent thought the prices were too high. A further 14 per cent wanted houses instead of apartments and 11 per cent had already purchased privately.

Director of housing at the council Charles McNamara has recommended that the properties be sold on the open market “subject to a reserve and with priority being given to first-time buyers”.

He has not yet stipulated what that reserve would be.

In a report to councillors to be debated at a meeting on Monday, Mr McNamara said it was that vital the council reduced the €27.5 million deficit incurred by the purchase of the properties.

“A failure to address this issue will have significant implications for the delivery of the council’s ambitious programme of capital projects, which are dependent on the availability of match funding from the council,” he said.

Other options considered by the council to deal with the unsold properties included introducing a let-to-buy scheme.

This would allow potential purchasers to live in and rent properties for a period before deciding whether to buy them.

However, at a meeting with the Department of the Environment last month, council officials were told that Dublin City Council had been approved for a let-to-buy pilot scheme.

Until that scheme has been assessed by the department and considered successful, no other local authorities will be given permission to initiate such a scheme.

The report also said voluntary housing bodies would not be in a position to purchase the unsold homes because the department had confirmed that no further funding would be made available to the voluntary sector under the Capital Loan and Subsidy Scheme.

Should the council be unsuccessful in selling the properties on the open market, it may be given permission by the department to transfer some of them to social housing under the social housing leasing initiative.

However this has disadvantages for the council; although it will receive rent, the scheme only lasts for five years and the council would have to bear the cost of repairs and redecoration of the properties once the lease period was finished.

Councillors are due to debate the issue on Monday.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

City council cannot sell €30m worth of houses

THE country's biggest local authority has been left with almost €30 million worth of houses that it cannot sell.

The houses, part of the affordable homes scheme, were built to allow people on smaller salaries to get a foot on the property ladder.

However, owing to the crash in property values and in the economy as a whole, Dublin City Council has been left with 197 homes that it cannot sell, even at prices significantly below market values.

The homes, which range in price from €115,000 to €280,000, are located across the city in areas such as Drumcondra, Finglas and Dublin 8.

The city council said it could not put a price on the value of the unsold properties but a conservative estimate of the stock is €30m, on the basis that each property is worth an average of €150,000.

A spokesman for the council said five of the houses were under negotiation for sale and that other options for the affordable homes were being considered.

"The plan obviously is to sell them but, as everybody knows, the market is slow and that applies across all aspects of it," the spokesman said.

"We may look at a rent-to-buy scheme in the near future because interest at the moment is slow and that is reflecting the general housing market.

"It is hard to give an accurate figure for how much the properties are worth as some of them involved land exchanges with developers."

Sales of affordable homes almost halved in 2009 when 215 units were sold compared to a high of 407 in 2008.

Some of the properties are in highly desirable locations with one- and two-bedroom apartments for sale in the Heuston South Quarter development.

One- and two-bedroom apartments, starting at €200,000 are also for sale near Grace Park Road in Drumcondra, Dublin City Council said.

Sunday Tribune

www.buckplanning.ie

No demand for €27m of affordable housing

A SOUTH Dublin local authority has said it has been unable to sell “affordable housing” valued at €27.5 million.

At a meeting of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council last night, councillors were told 120 affordable properties in Ballinteer, Sandyford, Stepaside, Loughlinstown, Dún Laoghaire, Leopardstown and Dundrum could not be sold despite price reductions.

The properties were acquired by the council under the Planning and Development Acts which required developers to provide 20 per cent of any development to local authorities for social and affordable housing.

The one- and two-bedroom apartments cost €132,000- €180,000, and had been offered to all 1,900 applicants on the affordable housing waiting list. They had also been reduced in price to keep them 20 per cent cheaper than open market value.

The council had subsidised the cost of each unit by €15,000-€30,000 and could not afford to reduce prices any further, councillors were told.

Director of housing Charles McNamara said every effort had been made by staff to increase sales and fast-track closings. But a number of factors were preventing sales. These included difficulties for potential purchasers in securing sufficient, or any, funding from mortgage lenders. The drop in house prices on the open market had also caused problems and applicants were reluctant to commit to a purchase because of uncertainty of employment or because they were waiting to see if market prices dropped further.

“It is now clear there is no interest from affordable [housing] applicants for these units,” Mr McNamara said.

He said the council could consider four options to deal with the unsold homes, including renting the properties to social housing applicants, selling them to a voluntary housing body on the open market, or offering them to affordable housing applicants on a “let-to-buy” basis.

While conscious that no single solution would be suitable to deal with all the unsold properties, Mr McNamara said he was eager to try the let-to-buy option on a pilot basis with up to 20 units. He cautioned councillors that options open to them now might not be available in the future.

Following debate, councillors agreed to consider the council’s proposals at the housing strategic policy committee.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Unsold affordable homes to be rented

UNSOLD AFFORDABLE homes in 12 local authorities are to be rented out to people on social housing waiting lists, the Department of the Environment has said.

It has given permission to local authorities to move the unsold homes to the permanent social housing stock.

Some 3,700 affordable homes, including houses and apartments, are held by local authorities around the country and 1,800 of these are considered likely to prove difficult to sell, the department has said.

Affordable homes were developed as part of the Planning and Development Act 2000 under which a proportion of every housing development had to be provided to local authorities for social and affordable housing.

During the economic boom, home buyers on lower incomes could buy one of these homes from their local authority at an “affordable” price. Once the property market slumped affordable housing was no longer attractive. The department advised local authorities of their options for bringing unsold affordable homes into use in a circular in April.

These included the temporary transfer of affordable homes for use under the Rental Accommodation Scheme or under the new social leasing arrangements, or in certain limited cases, for transfer to the permanent social housing stock. The department gave permission to move some affordable homes to social housing stock in Athy Town Council, Cobh Town Council, Dublin City Council, Fermoy Town Council, Kilkenny County Council and Kinsale Town Council. Also approved were Laois County Council, Limerick City Council, Midleton Town Council, Sligo County Council, Templemore Town Council and Wexford County Council.

Fine Gael TD Olivia Mitchell said the department was also in talks with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and South Dublin County Council to extend the scheme. She said the decision was another slap in the face for homeowners who bought their house or apartment in the expectation that their neighbours would be owner-occupiers.

A spokesman for the Minister of State for Housing Michael Finneran said while there were no legislative restrictions on the number of private housing units that could be leased for social housing, the department had issued guidance.

Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Foxrock to get 114 new homes

Developer gets go-ahead to build luxury homes on Brighton Road - and offers to build social and affordable housing elsewhere

FOXROCK is to get another development of luxury homes following a decision by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to grant permission for 33 houses and 81 apartments on Brighton Road.

Joe O'Reilly's Castlethorn Construction has been granted permission to build the scheme on a 12.3-acre site backing onto Leopardstown Racecourse. The developer has offered to build an affordable housing scheme on another site in Foxrock in part fulfilment of its social housing obligations.

The developer had originally proposed to build 49 large detached houses, but revised this to a mix of houses and apartments.

The proposed scheme hit the headlines last year when it emerged that the developer was offering to build 63 social and affordable homes at another development in Belarmine, Stepaside, in fulfilment of its obligations under Under Part V of the Planning and Development Act.

Under this regulation, developers are obliged to provide 20 per cent of any development for social and affordable housing. Developers can, however, negotiation cash or land in lieu of this obligation.

The offer prompted criticism from residents in Belarmine who objected to Castlethorn's bid to move its social housing obligation off site.

In a detailed proposal submitted to the council in June, Castlethorn has now offered to make 30 affordable apartments available at Belarmine and build a further 10 to 12 units on a different site in Foxrock in fulfilment of its social and affordable obligation.

If the construction of these social units is not possible prior to the completion or occupation of the Brighton Road scheme, Castlethorn has promised to make units at Brighton Road available.

This, according to the developer, would involve a substantially greater number of Part V units in Stepaside and Foxrock than could be achieved for the same cost on site at Brighton Road.

The developer also argued that the provision of Part V units on the Brighton Road site would "reinforce social segregation rather than counteract it, particularly if the Part V units are not developed to the same standard in terms of built form, finishes and landscaping detail".

A spokesperson for the council confirmed that the proposals have been agreed to in principle by the council, subject to finalised negotiations which will take into account land values, unit cost and suitability of the second site in Foxrock.

• Meanwhile, another developer, Urban Two Ltd Partnership, has lodged planning permission for another residential scheme in Foxrock.

The developer is looking to demolish Springfield House and and 4 Springfield Park to make way for 19 apartments in four blocks. Last January the developer was refused permission for a slightly larger scheme on the site.

The Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Developers splurge €78m to avoid building social housing

BUILDING firms have paid €78.6 million to avoid their responsibilities under the social and affordable housing scheme.

But home-seekers remain the real losers as city, county and town councils receive the payouts but do not re-invest the monies in social housing, say housing rights campaigners.

More than 43,000 people are on council housing waiting lists — with many anxious to avail of affordable housing.

Under Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000, developers were required to set aside 20% of their rezoned land for social or affordable housing.

But contractors can skip their responsibility by availing of a buy-out loophole.

However, housing support groups are concerned the builders’ opt-out payments could lead to young couples, in particular, continuing to struggle to get a house.

Many applicants, who could only afford a mortgage under the social and affordable scheme, are slipping further down council waiting lists.

A breakdown by the Irish Examiner of the amounts reveals developers paid 31 county councils, five city councils and 22 town councils.

Focus Ireland last night demanded councils stood up to developers and insist on homes being provided rather than cash.

“If they’re buying their way out, they’re being let buy their way out,” said head of development David Burke.

“Local authorities have to step up to the mark and not be pushed around.”

Mr Burke said local authority social schemes were designed for young families. On average, however, they are waiting up to four years to get a roof over their heads.

The Irish Council for Social Housing said the developer payments meant it took years longer for local authorities to find or develop other housing schemes with the cash.

“That slows the process of people being taken off the waiting lists,” said executive director Donal McManus.

With the slowdown in the private residential building, the fears remains there will be little or no social and affordable homes built in the near future. Local authorities, it emerged, are not allocating the builders’ funds into social and affordable schemes. Now the Department of Environment is warning local authorities that budgets will be cut if they continue to hoard payments from developers.

Correspondence from the department shows its secretary general Geraldine Tallon is “determined” funds are used as soon as the councils receive the money.

“Unused Part V funds will be taken into account when allocations to authorities for the main social housing programmes are being finalised,” said Ms Tallon’s letter.

Irish Examiner

www.buckplanning.ie

Firms oppose €19.5m social housing liability claim

A DEVELOPER and a construction company have denied claims by South Dublin County Council that they have failed to meet social and affordable housing obligations valued at €19.5 million in relation to a major Tallaght development.

Durkan New Homes (DNH), Sandford Road, Ranelagh, and construction company Hollioake Land Ltd, Cashel Road, Crumlin, are facing proceedings relating to a completed development of 745 houses at The Belfry, Blessington Road, Tallaght. The case was admitted to the Commercial Court yesterday by Mr Justice Peter Kelly.

The council contends the planning permission granted in 2003 for the development imposed an obligation on the defendants to enter into agreements under part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 relating to social and affordable housing.

The council says a part V agreement normally results in a "planning gain" to the planning authority as a developer is required to transfer land, sites or houses, or make a financial payment.

The council says the planning gain due to it under the planning permission is in excess of €19.5 million and it wants an order requiring the defendants to enter into an agreement under part V or pay damages in lieu of that.

It claims that before the decision to grant permission, the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2002 was enacted and that removed any discretion on the part of the council as to whether a part V agreement should be enacted on the date of the granting of permission.

In seeking yesterday to have the case admitted to the Commercial Court, with a view to having it speedily decided, the defendants rejected the council's claims and denied that the planning permission imposed an obligation to enter into a part V agreement.

DNH also claims the existence of the €19.5 million claim has serious commercial implications and had led to deferral of the company's restructuring plans, and it was therefore anxious to have the case determined speedily.

The council, in addition to its legal proceedings, had referred the matter to An Bord Pleanála and DNH is disputing the board's jurisdiction in the matter.

In an affidavit, Neil Durkan of DNH said the company had carried out development on part of the lands in question on the basis there was no requirement for a part V agreement. He said the lands were bought in December 2001 in the name of Hollioake but in 50 per cent trust for DNH.

After planning permission was granted in 2003, DNH and Hollioake developed the lands at issue and, before the council's action being taken, had implemented the permission and sold the individual units to various purchasers.

The council was prevented from now arguing the permission was subject to part V obligations as it had agreed to the sale of the individual units, he said.

The Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Green U-turn on social housing law

GREEN leader John Gormley has performed another U-turn on a key party policy.

The Environment Minister's department has insisted a controversial clause in the planning law which the Greens had promised to amend, will remain unchanged.

The clause allows developers buy their way out of obligations to build social and affordable housing.

Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 required developers to ensure 20% of all new estates contained social and affordable housing.

But in 2002, the Government amended the act, allowing developers to give money or land to local authorities in lieu of housing. Developers can also provide houses built elsewhere to meet their obligations.

Critics argue the opt-out clause is damaging on several fronts. One criticism is that it encourages segregation. Another is that in cases where developers provide money or land, local authorities take time to use it, thus delaying the provision of social and affordable housing.

The current Green Party housing policy, updated last December, promises to "amend" Part V by requiring developers to produce an equal quantity of affordable and social housing in "all" residential schemes.

"The Green Party will also tighten the social housing opt-out provisions of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2002," the policy states.

"We will place restrictions on the use of land transfer, which delay the delivery of ready-made houses, and place limits on the use of the measures that allow developers to fulfil Part V obligations ‘off-site' and pay cash contributions instead of ready-made units."

But Mr Gormley appears to have decided the changes recommended in his party policy are no longer required.

Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton recently tabled a parliamentary question to Mr Gormley, asking him if he would amend the law.

Mr Gormley left it to his junior minister, Fianna Fáil TD Batt O'Keeffe, to give the formal answer, which made clear the department will not make changes.

"I am satisfied that Part V is operating effectively, evidenced by its increased delivery of both social and affordable housing. Accordingly, I have no plans to amend the legislation," the answer stated.

Meanwhile, Mr Gormley and his fellow Green ministers, Eamon Ryan and Trevor Sargent, will travel abroad to represent Ireland on St Patrick's Day, a party spokesman confirmed yesterday, without revealing their destinations.

When in opposition, the Greens had criticised ministers travelling for St Patrick's Day.

In 2006, for example, Mr Sargent said: "This Dáil should start to recognise that, outside this House, it is completely unacceptable, regardless of the explanations being put out, that some members are going to be on the other side of the world and therefore, we all have to mark time."

Paul O'Brien
Irish Examiner

www.buckplanning.ie

Green U-turn on social housing law

GREEN leader John Gormley has performed another U-turn on a key party policy.

The Environment Minister's department has insisted a controversial clause in the planning law which the Greens had promised to amend, will remain unchanged.

The clause allows developers buy their way out of obligations to build social and affordable housing.

Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 required developers to ensure 20% of all new estates contained social and affordable housing.

But in 2002, the Government amended the act, allowing developers to give money or land to local authorities in lieu of housing. Developers can also provide houses built elsewhere to meet their obligations.

Critics argue the opt-out clause is damaging on several fronts. One criticism is that it encourages segregation. Another is that in cases where developers provide money or land, local authorities take time to use it, thus delaying the provision of social and affordable housing.

The current Green Party housing policy, updated last December, promises to "amend" Part V by requiring developers to produce an equal quantity of affordable and social housing in "all" residential schemes.

"The Green Party will also tighten the social housing opt-out provisions of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2002," the policy states.

"We will place restrictions on the use of land transfer, which delay the delivery of ready-made houses, and place limits on the use of the measures that allow developers to fulfil Part V obligations ‘off-site' and pay cash contributions instead of ready-made units."

But Mr Gormley appears to have decided the changes recommended in his party policy are no longer required.

Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton recently tabled a parliamentary question to Mr Gormley, asking him if he would amend the law.

Mr Gormley left it to his junior minister, Fianna Fáil TD Batt O'Keeffe, to give the formal answer, which made clear the department will not make changes.

"I am satisfied that Part V is operating effectively, evidenced by its increased delivery of both social and affordable housing. Accordingly, I have no plans to amend the legislation," the answer stated.

Meanwhile, Mr Gormley and his fellow Green ministers, Eamon Ryan and Trevor Sargent, will travel abroad to represent Ireland on St Patrick's Day, a party spokesman confirmed yesterday, without revealing their destinations.

When in opposition, the Greens had criticised ministers travelling for St Patrick's Day.

In 2006, for example, Mr Sargent said: "This Dáil should start to recognise that, outside this House, it is completely unacceptable, regardless of the explanations being put out, that some members are going to be on the other side of the world and therefore, we all have to mark time."

Paul O'Brien
Irish Examiner

www.buckplanning.ie

Council rejects controversial apartments for Sandymount

A CONTROVERSIAL four-storey social and affordable development in the south Dublin village of Sandymount has been rejected by Dublin City Council.

The council ruled that the 15-unit apartment block was a traffic hazard and would endanger public safety.

The application for the scheme at the rear of the Winfield car showrooms on Church Avenue was lodged by developer Seán Dunne.

Mr Dunne is awaiting planning permission for a mixed-use development with a 37-storey tower at the Jurys/Berkeley Court site in nearby Ballsbridge.

Mr Dunne had undertaken to provide up to 80 social and affordable homes within the Dublin southeast region depending on the number of apartments that would be eventually approved for the hotel sites.

The planning application sought permission for his first scheme of social and affordable homes on the site of a vacant, detached bungalow and a former community hall.

Objections to the development were lodged by deputies Lucinda Creighton (Fine Gael) and Chris Andrews (Fianna Fáil) and councillors John Kenny (Progressive Democrats) and Paddy McCartan (Fine Gael).

The Sandyford and Merrion Residents' Association also opposed the scheme.

Dublin City Council planners said the development, which contained 12 two-bedroom apartments, one three-bedroom unit and two one-bedroom homes, would be a traffic hazard.

Its entrance on to "a heavily trafficked road" with a one-way access ramp could conflict with pedestrian movements.

It also said the development did not contain sufficient private open space for residents.

It would result in sub-standard residential amenities for occupiers of the scheme, the council said, and would breach the standards of the city development plan.

Ms Creighton yesterday welcomed the council's decision.

"I had objected to Seán Dunne's application on the grounds that it would have a detrimental effect on traffic and pedestrians in the area.

"I am delighted to see that Dublin City Council has agreed with me and with the local residents who opposed this development."

Ms Creighton said objectors had been portrayed as being against affordable housing, though Mr Dunne had still not come to any agreement with the council regarding his obligations under Part V for the Ballsbridge site.

"Nowhere in this application was there any indication that it was anything other than another business venture for the applicant," she said.

A spokesman for Mr Dunne's company Mountbrook said it was committed to providing 100 per cent of the Church Avenue site to the city as part of the Jurys/Berkeley Court scheme.

"We will review the reasons for the refusal, and will meet with planners in Dublin City Council to fully understand the reasons outlined," he said.

"We will then review our position."

The Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Dunne's D4 social housing is shot down

PROPERTY developer Sean Dunne has been refused planning permission for the construction of 16 social and affordable housing units in south Dublin.

Dublin City Council refused permission for the four-storey building on Church Avenue, in Dublin 4, due to traffic concerns and the lack of open space in the planned project.

The proposal by Mountbrook Homes, Mr Dunne's company, was put forward to fulfil his obligations to provide affordable housing as part of plans to build a 37-storey tower on the Jurys/Berkeley Court site in Ballsbridge.

The 16-unit development attracted 18 objections from locals, including Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton and Fianna Fail TD Chris Andrews.

Permission was refused by the council as a "traffic hazard" would be created, said the verdict of the application, and because there was an entrance to a busy road and potential problems for pedestrians.

In addition, there was insufficient private open space for those who would live in the proposed complex.

A spokesman said Mountbrook was still "committed to offering 100pc of the site" for social and affordable housing, and would meet the council.

Lucinda Creighton welcomed the decision, saying: "I objected to Mr Dunne's application on the grounds that it would have a detrimental effect on traffic and pedestrians, and I am delighted to see that Dublin City Council has agreed with me, and local residents who opposed this development."

Shane Hickey

www.buckplanning.ie

PLANS to build social and affordable apartments in an exclusive area of Dublin 4 have hit a major stumbling block following cross-party objections fro

Two of the four TDs for Dublin South East have denied they object to social and affordable housing in Sandymount after they opposed plans by developer Sean Dunne for the provision of 15 apartments in the area.

Fianna Fáil's Chris Andrews and Fine Gael's Lucinda Creighton both said they had no objection in principle to having more social and affordable homes in Sandymount, but were concerned about the height of a proposed four-storey development

A planning application for the four-storey infill scheme at the rear of the Winfield car showrooms on Church Avenue has been lodged by developer Sean Dunne, who is awaiting planning permission for a mixed-use development with a 37-storey tower at the Jurys/Berkeley Court site in Ballsbridge.

Mr Dunne has undertaken to provide up to 80 social and affordable homes within the Dublin southeast region, depending on the number of apartments eventually approved for the hotel sites.

The planning application seeks permission for his first scheme of social and affordable homes on the site of a vacant, detached bungalow and a former community hall on the south side of Church Avenue.

Twelve of the apartments will be two-bedroom homes, there will be one three-bedroom unit, a one-bedroom home with a study and another apartment with a single bedroom.

The proposed three-storey block with one storey set back will have a basement car park and a landscaped open space at ground-floor level, including a children's play area.

Objections to the development have been lodged by not only Mr Andrews and Ms Creighton but also by councillors John Kenny (PD) and Paddy McCartan (Fine Gael). The Sandyford and Merrion Residents' Association is also opposing the apartment scheme.

Mr Andrews said not only was he not opposed to the provision of social and affordable homes in Sandymount but he would welcome more of these units in the area. He was more concerned about "the tightness of the space" on the Church Avenue site and local residents had a right to express their concern. "There are very few planning applications that are not altered in some way."

Mr Andrews's letter of objection to the planning application said the proposed scheme was out of scale with existing buildings in the area, would "diminish residential amenities" and would set a bad precedent for the conservation of urban villages.

Asked whether she was opposed to the plan to develop social and affordable housing in Sandymount, Ms Creighton said "absolutely not" . Families in Sandymount would prefer to see their children getting a home locally rather than having to move out to places such as Clondalkin.

She said some families living beside the Sandymount site were concerned about their homes being overlooked and wanted the proposed development reduced in height.

Ms Creighton's written objection claimed that the apartment block would "overlook and overshadow" the houses and gardens of neighbouring properties "and will have a visual impact on the residents". The extra traffic would put further pressure on the already overloaded network.

The residents' association said the development was out of character with the surroundings in terms of height, density, scale, design and materials used. It would also exacerbate traffic problems. In other areas of Dublin the surrounding properties in Church Avenue and Tritonville Road would be considered worthy of preservation by reason of their architectural surroundings.

The Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

Objectors throw doubt on Dunne's affordable housing plan

PLANS to build social and affordable apartments in an exclusive area of Dublin 4 have hit a major stumbling block following cross-party objections from two TDs and two local councillors.

Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton and Fianna Fail TD Chris Andrews have both sent letters to Dublin City planners opposing the development, as have Fine Gael Councillor Paddy McCartan and Progressive Democrat Councillor John Kenny.

Developer Sean Dunne had hoped to build the 16 apartments on Church Avenue in Sandymount in order to fulfil his obligations to provide affordable housing as part of the redevelopment of the Jurys Berkeley Court site in nearby Ballsbridge.

The politicians' objections, coupled with those of the Sandymount and Merrion Residents' Association and 12

individual local residents, could yet imperil the plan to provide much-needed homes for young families from the Ringsend area looking to get their first foothold on the property ladder.

Ms Creighton's objection to the modern four-storey apartment block, on the grounds that it "would not be in the interests of the proper planning and sustainable development of the area", is especially surprising, given her recent comments on the property market in this newspaper.

In an interview for the Sunday Independent's Paper Prophet column on January 6, Ms Creighton -- who earns a basic TD's salary of €108,500 -- complained of not being able to "secure a mortgage", claiming that the "property market [in Dublin] is simply out of my league" because of the "spiralling house prices".

Ms Creighton's opposite number in Dublin South East, Fianna Fail TD Chris Andrews, objected to the social and affordable homes on five separate grounds.

In his email sent to Dublin City planners on January 30, Mr Andrews complains that the development would be out of scale with the existing area, had been objected to by local residents, and would set a bad precedent for the conservation of urban villages.

Fine Gael Councillor Paddy McCartan complains the apartments are not designed for families, with only one three-bedroom apartment proposed for the development.

According to the planning files obtained by the Sunday Independent, PD councillor John Kenny took time out during his lunch hour at Brown Brothers Harriman Investment Bank to lodge his objection to the development at Church Avenue. In a letter sent from his work email address at 1:56pm on January 31, Mr Kenny objects to the development on four grounds, claiming it goes against the provisions of the current Dublin City Development Plan.

One of Mr Kenny's principal arguments is that the proposed apartment development "does not protect the historic nature of the [Sandymount and Irishtown] area".

Besides his proposals for social and affordable housing on Church Avenue, Sean Dunne has so far pledged another two sites in the Dublin docklands area to Dublin City Council for the same purpose.

The inclusion of social and affordable accommodation on the site of the former Jurys Berkeley Court lands in Ballsbridge is understood to be unfeasible, given the likelihood of significant management and concierge fees that will be levied on the apartments built there.

RONALD QUINLAN
Irish Examiner

www.buckplanning.ie

Affordable housing plan for Killiney rejected by council

Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown county councillors have overwhelmingly rejected controversial plans for some 98 apartments to be built under the affordable housing scheme in Killiney, south Dublin.

Some 17 councillors, drawn from all parties, rejected a report compiled on behalf of county manager Owen Keegan, which recommended that the plans be accepted. There were six abstentions and two votes in support of the report.

Based on a development of 140 units at "Kilmarnock", Military Road, Killiney, developer Ellen Construction had said that 98 two-bedroom apartments could be sold to applicants on the council's affordable housing list for €299,000 each. The remainder would be sold at full market value.

However, during a sometimes heated debate, councillors heard that if the number of units to be built on the 1.5 hectare site was to decrease, the cost of these affordable homes would also increase.

For the proposed development to go ahead, councillors would have to authorise the removal of an existing density restriction on the land, as outlined in the current county development plan.

Several councillors claimed in last night's debate that the proposed development would be "opening the door" for similar development in the area. Others said they were being subjected to "emotional blackmail" due to the fact that 3,463 people are currently on the council's application list for affordable housing.

Separately, council members backed plans for new parking bylaws for the Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown local authority area. These include increases in the cost of certain "pay and display" tariffs, but a decrease in others.
John Downes
© 2007 The Irish Times

Council orders holiday home builder to provide social housing

THE developer of a luxury holiday home scheme has been ordered by the local county council to transfer one-fifth of the development for social and affordable housing.

The exact transfer arrangements and the actual price the council will pay for the units will now have to be agreed, Kerry Council officials said after yesterday's Bord Pleanala ruling.

The houses were being sold through Kenmare auctioneers Sherry Fitzgerald Daly auctioneer, with an average price of over €340,000 including VAT.

A large number of the houses are now sold. They are part of a tax-driven holiday home scheme operated by a management company on a leaseback basis for 10 years.

The developer has eight weeks to comply with the board's order.

The decision came after a dispute arose with Kerry Co Council over compliance with Part V of the planning and development Act 2000, which governs social housing provisions.

Developer Eamon McCarthy, c/o Ryan Walsh Associates of Dun Laoghaire, argued strongly that a holiday home scheme was not suitable for social and affordable housing and offered to pay financial compensation instead.

In 2005, the council granted permission for 42 semi-detached and terraced holiday homes and services buildings at Dromnevane.

A condition was that, prior to the commencement, the developer would enter into an agreement with Kerry County Council in relation to the provision of social and affordable units.

The details were not finalised before the scheme began. The developer and his agents argued the scheme was unsuitable for social housing and proposed financial compensation or land.

They argued the holiday homes were of very high quality, for transient occupation, and for owners looking for access to golf clubs, leisure centre, sailing and sports centres. In addition, the units in the scheme would be subject to management charges '"which will be expensive and rise incrementally". Such charges would not be suitable for social and affordable housing, they said.

Planning Board inspector Robert Ryan noted the area was zoned residential and was within the urban boundary. This holiday home development had a standard residential, not a clustered holiday home, appearance and there were existing housing schemes nearby, he said. He recommended that the council's request for eight units instead of cash should be acceded to.

Anne Lucey
Irish Independent