The Government is determined to fast-track the delivery of more social housing projects, Junior Housing Minister Damien English has insisted. But available land will have to be used more efficiently, with more high-rise, high-density developments likely in appropriate locations, he said. His department is due to issue new building height guidance to local authorities within a matter of weeks, he confirmed. Mr English was speaking yesterday at the official handing over of 52 new homes to families in Knocknaheeny, on the northside of Cork City, which were developed by Deermount Construction in two phases worth €10.2m as part of Cork City Council’s ambitious North West Quarter Regeneration Plan (NWQRP) which aims to deliver 650 homes across a vast swathe of the city’s northside.
Read the full article @ Irish Examiner
Showing posts with label social housing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social housing. Show all posts
Saturday, 14 April 2018
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Councils focused on selling houses
The slow uptake of a Department of the Environment social housing leasing scheme can be attributed to local authorities being focused on selling, rather than renting, their vacant stock of affordable homes, the Comptroller and Auditor General said.
Just 47 of 175 units approved for long-term leasing by the department were fully operational in June of this year, he said.
The department decided to begin leasing rather than purchasing properties last year in an attempt to meet the State’s social housing needs and deliver a target of 27,000 new units agreed under the Towards 2016 social partnership agreement. Some €20 million was set aside for the purpose in 2009.
The department put the slow start to the scheme down to lead-in time for any new initiative and the fact that not all properties available to it were suitable.
“The department has also stated that the depressed financial markets together with the inclusion of a large number of property developments in the Nama process has militated against uptake of leasing arrangements,” the report says.
The comptroller’s report concludes that the cost of leasing and purchasing were broadly the same.
Labour housing spokesman Ciarán Lynch, who has been a long-time critic of the scheme, said the only true beneficiaries of the arrangement were the various developers whose residential units were currently lying vacant.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Just 47 of 175 units approved for long-term leasing by the department were fully operational in June of this year, he said.
The department decided to begin leasing rather than purchasing properties last year in an attempt to meet the State’s social housing needs and deliver a target of 27,000 new units agreed under the Towards 2016 social partnership agreement. Some €20 million was set aside for the purpose in 2009.
The department put the slow start to the scheme down to lead-in time for any new initiative and the fact that not all properties available to it were suitable.
“The department has also stated that the depressed financial markets together with the inclusion of a large number of property developments in the Nama process has militated against uptake of leasing arrangements,” the report says.
The comptroller’s report concludes that the cost of leasing and purchasing were broadly the same.
Labour housing spokesman Ciarán Lynch, who has been a long-time critic of the scheme, said the only true beneficiaries of the arrangement were the various developers whose residential units were currently lying vacant.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Residents want flats razed and rebuilt by Dublin City Council
RESIDENTS OF St Teresa’s Gardens have asked Dublin City Council to honour its commitment to demolish and rebuild the run-down 1950s flat complex.
The St Teresa’s Gardens Residents Association yesterday met the city council following the decision to abandon the public private partnership (PPP) regeneration of the complex.
Resident association representative Kris Taylor said the flats were in an advanced stage of decay. Rats run along the balconies and stairwells and through the flats, she said. The complex is infested with flies in the summer and the vermin problems are exacerbated by an inadequate sewage system.
“Raw sewage, needles and toilet paper comes up the pipes . . . It’s pushed into the baths and the showers.”
The flats were damp and the walls were mildewed, the kitchens were tiny and there was nowhere for families to sit and eat together, she said. There were also problems with crime, with residents subject to intimidation and violence, and cars regularly burnt.
“These are things that can’t be put right with precinct improvement. What is required is the demolition of the complex . . . We want financial resources to be made available and targets to be set.”
Labour councillor Michael Conaghan said it was clear there was an urgent need for regeneration. “The PPP process is dead but regeneration is not. Regeneration is within the competence of the city council, the PPP was beyond our control and beyond our competence.”
Fine Gael councillor Ruairí McGinley said the council had evaded its responsibility to maintain the complex because it was the subject of a planned regeneration, but he said the onus was on the Department of the Environment to produce funds.
The complex of 346 flats in 14 four-storey blocks was to have been demolished and replaced with 300 social and affordable units, 300 private apartments, retail and commercial units, and community buildings.
Despite the collapse last year of five similar regeneration schemes due to have been built by developer Bernard McNamara, three bidders remained in the running. However, during the year it became clear a PPP project was no longer viable, the council said, and the decision was taken to abandon the competition for the project.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The St Teresa’s Gardens Residents Association yesterday met the city council following the decision to abandon the public private partnership (PPP) regeneration of the complex.
Resident association representative Kris Taylor said the flats were in an advanced stage of decay. Rats run along the balconies and stairwells and through the flats, she said. The complex is infested with flies in the summer and the vermin problems are exacerbated by an inadequate sewage system.
“Raw sewage, needles and toilet paper comes up the pipes . . . It’s pushed into the baths and the showers.”
The flats were damp and the walls were mildewed, the kitchens were tiny and there was nowhere for families to sit and eat together, she said. There were also problems with crime, with residents subject to intimidation and violence, and cars regularly burnt.
“These are things that can’t be put right with precinct improvement. What is required is the demolition of the complex . . . We want financial resources to be made available and targets to be set.”
Labour councillor Michael Conaghan said it was clear there was an urgent need for regeneration. “The PPP process is dead but regeneration is not. Regeneration is within the competence of the city council, the PPP was beyond our control and beyond our competence.”
Fine Gael councillor Ruairí McGinley said the council had evaded its responsibility to maintain the complex because it was the subject of a planned regeneration, but he said the onus was on the Department of the Environment to produce funds.
The complex of 346 flats in 14 four-storey blocks was to have been demolished and replaced with 300 social and affordable units, 300 private apartments, retail and commercial units, and community buildings.
Despite the collapse last year of five similar regeneration schemes due to have been built by developer Bernard McNamara, three bidders remained in the running. However, during the year it became clear a PPP project was no longer viable, the council said, and the decision was taken to abandon the competition for the project.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Friday, 25 September 2009
Local authorities told to use in-house architects for designs
THE DEPARTMENT of the Environment has told local authorities that they must rely on their own architects, those working for other local authorities or the National Building Agency (NBA) to design any new social housing schemes from October 1st.
The revised arrangements, notified to local authorities last month, have been interpreted by private sector architects as a way of denying them commissions to design social housing – although this was denied by a source in the department.
A circular letter, issued at the direction of Minister of State for Housing Michael Finneran, gives local authorities three options of implementing new projects approved by the department under the much-reduced social housing investment programme.
They must either “utilise available in-house professional services to provide the required planning, design and management services for the project” or “enter into a shared service agreement with another authority to provide the required services”.
The only other option given to the local authorities is to “engage the NBA to provide the required planning, design and management services for the project, including the procurement of such additional professional services as may be needed”.
The NBA will also continue to be available to provide technical advice on major regeneration programmes, feasibility studies and projects proposed by housing associations, according to the circular letter signed by principal officer Eddie Lewis.
However, with more vacant houses being leased long-term to meet social housing requirements, the number of new housing projects being approved by the department is likely to be small – leaving local authority architects with less work to do.
According to the source, who did not wish to be identified, the purpose of the circular was to ensure that local authorities would look to their own resources in the first instance, or to other local authorities which might have in-house architects available.
The source also emphasised that turning to the NBA did not necessarily mean that its architects would design new housing schemes, as there was explicit provision in the new arrangements allowing it to commission private sector architects.
“The NBA is not being given additional resources,” he said. “The big issue is getting value for money.
“And the reality is that there’s going to be fewer social housing units built because of the leasing arrangements. Hence, there will be less design work”.
He pointed out that 9,000 units would be provided this year for people on local authority waiting lists, despite a 25 per cent decrease in the overall housing budget.
“That’s because there are so many vacant houses that can be leased long-term instead.”
At a function last week to open an international workshop on architectural education, Minister for the Environment John Gormley said it showed “an optimism that architecture . . . will be resurgent as a profession when our economies come out of recession”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The revised arrangements, notified to local authorities last month, have been interpreted by private sector architects as a way of denying them commissions to design social housing – although this was denied by a source in the department.
A circular letter, issued at the direction of Minister of State for Housing Michael Finneran, gives local authorities three options of implementing new projects approved by the department under the much-reduced social housing investment programme.
They must either “utilise available in-house professional services to provide the required planning, design and management services for the project” or “enter into a shared service agreement with another authority to provide the required services”.
The only other option given to the local authorities is to “engage the NBA to provide the required planning, design and management services for the project, including the procurement of such additional professional services as may be needed”.
The NBA will also continue to be available to provide technical advice on major regeneration programmes, feasibility studies and projects proposed by housing associations, according to the circular letter signed by principal officer Eddie Lewis.
However, with more vacant houses being leased long-term to meet social housing requirements, the number of new housing projects being approved by the department is likely to be small – leaving local authority architects with less work to do.
According to the source, who did not wish to be identified, the purpose of the circular was to ensure that local authorities would look to their own resources in the first instance, or to other local authorities which might have in-house architects available.
The source also emphasised that turning to the NBA did not necessarily mean that its architects would design new housing schemes, as there was explicit provision in the new arrangements allowing it to commission private sector architects.
“The NBA is not being given additional resources,” he said. “The big issue is getting value for money.
“And the reality is that there’s going to be fewer social housing units built because of the leasing arrangements. Hence, there will be less design work”.
He pointed out that 9,000 units would be provided this year for people on local authority waiting lists, despite a 25 per cent decrease in the overall housing budget.
“That’s because there are so many vacant houses that can be leased long-term instead.”
At a function last week to open an international workshop on architectural education, Minister for the Environment John Gormley said it showed “an optimism that architecture . . . will be resurgent as a profession when our economies come out of recession”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 16 November 2008
'Painting over the cracks'
Residents at a local authority estate designated as one of the state's largest regeneration schemes have been delivered the final insult in their futile quest for new homes.
Neglected for nearly a decade while their flats awaited the wrecking ball, Dublin City Council has finally started work at the complex – by giving the exterior of the housing blocks a fresh coat of paint.
It is the first significant maintenance to take place in O'Devaney Gardens since plans for its redevelopment were first mooted a decade ago.
The city council said the repainting project would cost in the region of €250,000 and would be carried out along with the scheduled demolition of four blocks of empty flats.
A statement said: "The demolition has been priced at €440,000. The figure for painting the complex is €250,000.
"Dublin City Council believes that these works, together with the planned playground will prove to be of benefit to the local residents in the context of the delay to the regeneration project.
"[Dublin] City Council is in the process of painting the exterior of nine blocks in O'Devaney Gardens." These are the blocks that will remain.
"Demolition started last Monday on the four blocks. It is anticipated that the demolition will be finished in January 2009."
Labour's Joe Costello said the council were quite literally "painting over the cracks."
The local TD said: "This certainly isn't going to fix very much. The city council are responding to the fact that things got out of hand over Hallowe'en and it was a warzone over the holiday period for about three days and three nights.
"They are faced with a situation where they
have to come up with new plans and this is obviously going to take considerable time.
"All of the tenants, except for 79 people, want to leave the estate entirely. There are less than 180 families now and more than half of them want to get out of there and you cannot blame them.
"They had agreed to stay there with the expectation of a brand new village with all mod cons and a good standard of accommodation.
"All of that has been blown out of the water by the decision by property developer Bernard McNamara to pull out of the project."
The plans had been officially launched in February 2007 when then taoiseach Bertie Ahern and McNamara came together to celebrate the official signing of the project.
Ahern had also been the first to congratulate local residents in December 2005 when the developer had first been chosen.
A spokesman for McNamara said at the time the projects were cancelled: "The decision in relation to these PPPs was taken because of a combination of two things – the downturn in the marketplace and fundamental changes to the schemes that would have required a new planning application."
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Neglected for nearly a decade while their flats awaited the wrecking ball, Dublin City Council has finally started work at the complex – by giving the exterior of the housing blocks a fresh coat of paint.
It is the first significant maintenance to take place in O'Devaney Gardens since plans for its redevelopment were first mooted a decade ago.
The city council said the repainting project would cost in the region of €250,000 and would be carried out along with the scheduled demolition of four blocks of empty flats.
A statement said: "The demolition has been priced at €440,000. The figure for painting the complex is €250,000.
"Dublin City Council believes that these works, together with the planned playground will prove to be of benefit to the local residents in the context of the delay to the regeneration project.
"[Dublin] City Council is in the process of painting the exterior of nine blocks in O'Devaney Gardens." These are the blocks that will remain.
"Demolition started last Monday on the four blocks. It is anticipated that the demolition will be finished in January 2009."
Labour's Joe Costello said the council were quite literally "painting over the cracks."
The local TD said: "This certainly isn't going to fix very much. The city council are responding to the fact that things got out of hand over Hallowe'en and it was a warzone over the holiday period for about three days and three nights.
"They are faced with a situation where they
have to come up with new plans and this is obviously going to take considerable time.
"All of the tenants, except for 79 people, want to leave the estate entirely. There are less than 180 families now and more than half of them want to get out of there and you cannot blame them.
"They had agreed to stay there with the expectation of a brand new village with all mod cons and a good standard of accommodation.
"All of that has been blown out of the water by the decision by property developer Bernard McNamara to pull out of the project."
The plans had been officially launched in February 2007 when then taoiseach Bertie Ahern and McNamara came together to celebrate the official signing of the project.
Ahern had also been the first to congratulate local residents in December 2005 when the developer had first been chosen.
A spokesman for McNamara said at the time the projects were cancelled: "The decision in relation to these PPPs was taken because of a combination of two things – the downturn in the marketplace and fundamental changes to the schemes that would have required a new planning application."
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 13 November 2008
Council spending €10 million at The Grange
It looks like some lucky council tenants could be in line for 37 one and two-bed apartments at the upmarket Grange development in Stillorgan which Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is acquiring for social housing under Part V of the planning and development act for over €10.26 million.
The council has signed contracts with the developer Ray Grehan of Glenkerrin Homes and is looking for a loan from the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to fund the 12 one-beds and 25 two-beds - at an average of €277,240 per unit.
Two months ago Grehan was offering buyers a 15 per cent interest-free loan for luxury two-bed private apartments at the Grange so that they would only have to come up with a 5 per cent deposit. The apartments were being sold at 2005 prices of €525,000.
The council is proposing the €10.26 million would go to BIH Housing Association (Ireland) Ltd, an approved voluntary body that provides accommodation to meet a range of housing needs for single people and families.
A spokesperson for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said the units at the Grange were allocated to social housing - along with another 38 affordable housing units - prior to the downturn and have been a long time in negotiation.
They did acknowledge, however, that in more buoyant times "there's no doubt that developers preferred to make financial contributions rather than allocate units although this was always our least preferred option", but added that this was never the case at the Grange.
The council has either agreed to acquire units or has already acquired them in a long list of salubrious and high profile south Dublin developments, including 24 social units and 36 affordable units at the Gallops in Leopardstown, and 34 social and 70 affordable units at Beacon South Quarter in Sandyford.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The council has signed contracts with the developer Ray Grehan of Glenkerrin Homes and is looking for a loan from the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to fund the 12 one-beds and 25 two-beds - at an average of €277,240 per unit.
Two months ago Grehan was offering buyers a 15 per cent interest-free loan for luxury two-bed private apartments at the Grange so that they would only have to come up with a 5 per cent deposit. The apartments were being sold at 2005 prices of €525,000.
The council is proposing the €10.26 million would go to BIH Housing Association (Ireland) Ltd, an approved voluntary body that provides accommodation to meet a range of housing needs for single people and families.
A spokesperson for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said the units at the Grange were allocated to social housing - along with another 38 affordable housing units - prior to the downturn and have been a long time in negotiation.
They did acknowledge, however, that in more buoyant times "there's no doubt that developers preferred to make financial contributions rather than allocate units although this was always our least preferred option", but added that this was never the case at the Grange.
The council has either agreed to acquire units or has already acquired them in a long list of salubrious and high profile south Dublin developments, including 24 social units and 36 affordable units at the Gallops in Leopardstown, and 34 social and 70 affordable units at Beacon South Quarter in Sandyford.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 27 October 2008
York Street social housing
A new social housing scheme in the heart of the city is a triumph for eco-friendly design principles as well as scoring brownie points for the council's contracted developers, writes Valerie Shanley Charlie Long is exuberant at the prospect of a home in the new complex
The re-development of the old council flats on York Street is a transformation way beyond mere bricks and mortar. 'Social housing' in the past conjured up images of grim, Soviet-style blocks with basic amenities. The 66 brand-new homes that replace the original 97 flats are, according to deputy city architect Kieran Gallagher, of a better standard than some private schemes around the city.
In terms of sustainability and eco-credentials, York Street is quite something compared to its neighbouring stately buildings on St Stephen's Green. Massive solar panels, sedum-planted roofs to attract wildlife while absorbing and conserving rainwater, a state-of- the-art recycling centre, an allotment, and architectural salvage from the original tenements, all contribute to this being a flagship social housing project by the council.
However, it's the change in the lives of the council's original tenants – nearly all of whom are moving back into the new complex after being housed in alternative accommodation during the four year re-development – that marks the human transformation.
Charlie Long is one resident who lived on the street for close on three decades and he is exuberant – no other word for it – at the prospect of a home in the new complex. After returning from work in London in 1980, he fell on hard times and had to go on the council's homeless list. Although glad to get a flat on York Street, he remembers living conditions being consistently harsh.
"I worked in a hotel, returning very late at night – and I would be taking my life in my hands. The main doors into the flats would always be kicked open, anyone could come in from the street. Light bulbs would have been smashed and so I would be tripping over people slumped on the stairs, some of them maybe drunk or on drugs." Not surprisingly, a big plus for Charlie is the security of the new building. Each home has an intercom system with a camera, and there is also a 'talking' lift. The communal courtyard is also very secure, and the toddlers' playground is visible from every balcony.
The two feature Georgian door architraves, complete with classic columns, were salvaged from the original terrace of houses built on York Street in the mid 18th century, says the project's architect Seán Harrington.
The College of Surgeons still faces the development in an area that, in its heyday, was considered Dublin's Harley Street. After the Act of Union, the terrace of Georgian houses gradually declined into tenements, housing scores of families in slum conditions. The situation became so bad that Dublin City Council eventually demolished the street in 1949 and re-built the flats. But the living conditions behind the newly built, pastiche 'Georgian' façade, were far from adequate.
Up until four years ago, the York Street complex was a fire hazard; there was no fire escape, continual problems arose with damp, and bathrooms were non-existent. Tiny kitchens included a sink and toilet. Unsurprisingly, the residents wanted a say in how the re-development would improve living standards.
"The great thing about this project is that the community spirit is very together here, plus everyone is interested in eco issues," says Harrington. "The council trusted us to do something ambitious. It's a huge responsibility – you are given the trust to not only create homes, but also to create a building that sits comfortably within the city."
McNamara Construction – which last May pulled out of five public/private partnerships with Dublin City Council worth an estimated €900m due to 'adversely changed circumstances in the housing market' and new planning guidelines on scaled-up apartment sizes – was awarded the York Street contract four years ago to re-develop the site for €20m. Sustainable Energy Ireland contributed over €280,000 as part of its House of Tomorrow project. Design company Ventura (www.ventura.ie) styled two apartments to help tenants visualise how their homes could look.
"It was the first project I've ever worked on with Dublin City Council and I was delighted to have the experience
of working on such an unusual job, never mind the fantastic location," says Ventura's Arlene McIntyre, adding that the brief was to make the flats look and feel as spacious as possible.
Approximately half of the homes are one-bed apartments, with the balance split between two-bed apartments and three bed duplexes. The dual aspect light ensures the homes are warm and bright – unlike the old days when north facing flats were so dark the light had to stay on all day. Generously sized balconies function as additional rooms where the upper glass window panels fold right back to let in sunlight.
Recycling is a huge element in the design. Tony Gallagher, housing manager for the area, says everyone is excited about the state of the art 'digestor' in the recycling pavilion. "We are introducing a training programme for residents to show how leftover food waste converts to compost, and which can be used in the garden."
For Charlie, a big decision now is whether to get involved with the residents' gardening group. He's also bemused by the increased amount of offers from his sister who is really keen to stay in his swish new pad just off St Stephen's Green. "She's suggesting I go to her house for a holiday and she'll come here and mind the place!"
The council is hosting an open day for the public at the York Street development on Saturday, 8 November, from 1pm to 5pm
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
The re-development of the old council flats on York Street is a transformation way beyond mere bricks and mortar. 'Social housing' in the past conjured up images of grim, Soviet-style blocks with basic amenities. The 66 brand-new homes that replace the original 97 flats are, according to deputy city architect Kieran Gallagher, of a better standard than some private schemes around the city.
In terms of sustainability and eco-credentials, York Street is quite something compared to its neighbouring stately buildings on St Stephen's Green. Massive solar panels, sedum-planted roofs to attract wildlife while absorbing and conserving rainwater, a state-of- the-art recycling centre, an allotment, and architectural salvage from the original tenements, all contribute to this being a flagship social housing project by the council.
However, it's the change in the lives of the council's original tenants – nearly all of whom are moving back into the new complex after being housed in alternative accommodation during the four year re-development – that marks the human transformation.
Charlie Long is one resident who lived on the street for close on three decades and he is exuberant – no other word for it – at the prospect of a home in the new complex. After returning from work in London in 1980, he fell on hard times and had to go on the council's homeless list. Although glad to get a flat on York Street, he remembers living conditions being consistently harsh.
"I worked in a hotel, returning very late at night – and I would be taking my life in my hands. The main doors into the flats would always be kicked open, anyone could come in from the street. Light bulbs would have been smashed and so I would be tripping over people slumped on the stairs, some of them maybe drunk or on drugs." Not surprisingly, a big plus for Charlie is the security of the new building. Each home has an intercom system with a camera, and there is also a 'talking' lift. The communal courtyard is also very secure, and the toddlers' playground is visible from every balcony.
The two feature Georgian door architraves, complete with classic columns, were salvaged from the original terrace of houses built on York Street in the mid 18th century, says the project's architect Seán Harrington.
The College of Surgeons still faces the development in an area that, in its heyday, was considered Dublin's Harley Street. After the Act of Union, the terrace of Georgian houses gradually declined into tenements, housing scores of families in slum conditions. The situation became so bad that Dublin City Council eventually demolished the street in 1949 and re-built the flats. But the living conditions behind the newly built, pastiche 'Georgian' façade, were far from adequate.
Up until four years ago, the York Street complex was a fire hazard; there was no fire escape, continual problems arose with damp, and bathrooms were non-existent. Tiny kitchens included a sink and toilet. Unsurprisingly, the residents wanted a say in how the re-development would improve living standards.
"The great thing about this project is that the community spirit is very together here, plus everyone is interested in eco issues," says Harrington. "The council trusted us to do something ambitious. It's a huge responsibility – you are given the trust to not only create homes, but also to create a building that sits comfortably within the city."
McNamara Construction – which last May pulled out of five public/private partnerships with Dublin City Council worth an estimated €900m due to 'adversely changed circumstances in the housing market' and new planning guidelines on scaled-up apartment sizes – was awarded the York Street contract four years ago to re-develop the site for €20m. Sustainable Energy Ireland contributed over €280,000 as part of its House of Tomorrow project. Design company Ventura (www.ventura.ie) styled two apartments to help tenants visualise how their homes could look.
"It was the first project I've ever worked on with Dublin City Council and I was delighted to have the experience
of working on such an unusual job, never mind the fantastic location," says Ventura's Arlene McIntyre, adding that the brief was to make the flats look and feel as spacious as possible.
Approximately half of the homes are one-bed apartments, with the balance split between two-bed apartments and three bed duplexes. The dual aspect light ensures the homes are warm and bright – unlike the old days when north facing flats were so dark the light had to stay on all day. Generously sized balconies function as additional rooms where the upper glass window panels fold right back to let in sunlight.
Recycling is a huge element in the design. Tony Gallagher, housing manager for the area, says everyone is excited about the state of the art 'digestor' in the recycling pavilion. "We are introducing a training programme for residents to show how leftover food waste converts to compost, and which can be used in the garden."
For Charlie, a big decision now is whether to get involved with the residents' gardening group. He's also bemused by the increased amount of offers from his sister who is really keen to stay in his swish new pad just off St Stephen's Green. "She's suggesting I go to her house for a holiday and she'll come here and mind the place!"
The council is hosting an open day for the public at the York Street development on Saturday, 8 November, from 1pm to 5pm
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 18 September 2008
Boston social housing scheme shows the way
An Irish-American firm, which developed a template for exemplary social housing, is pressing hard to get into the frame as Dublin City Council prepares to redevelop some problem estates, writes Frank McDonald.
COLUMBIA POINT used to be one of the worst slums in North America. Despite its beautiful location on Boston Harbour, not far from the Kennedy Library, it was wracked by every imaginable social problem, mostly drug-related. It was a ghetto, physically isolated from the city, a place nobody wanted to go.
Mostly boarded up when developers Corcoran Mullins Jennison (CMJ) arrived on the scene in 1987, it became the first federal housing project in the United States to be converted to mixed-income housing.
And with the end-result winning several awards, it has served as an exemplary model for similar schemes elsewhere.
Anyone coming back after 20 years would barely recognise it. The name was changed to Harbor Point, to extirpate old associations, and the entire estate redeveloped to provide 1,283 attractive apartments and townhouses - supported by a range of social facilities, including shops, playgrounds and places for sitting out.
Low-income households benefiting from rent allowances account for just over 31 per cent of the overall mix, but there's no distinction between them and tenants paying the full market rent of $1,700 to $1,800 a month (€1,197 to €1,268); everyone lives together, instead of being socially segregated in different blocks.
What is also unusual about Harbor Point is that it's owned and managed by the same company that developed it - co-founded, incidentally, by Irish-American entrepreneur Joe Corcoran, whose parents hailed from Co Roscommon; he made a fortune from property investments and still runs the company at the age of 72.
Corcoran Jennison pitched for the PPP contracts from Dublin City Council to redevelop Dominick Street, O'Devaney Gardens and St Michael's Estate - losing out to Bernard McNamara. But now, with McNamara out of the picture, the Boston-based firm is pressing hard to get back into the frame by highlighting its track record.
Its focus is on developing and managing sustainable communities that work well for residents and for the company, as long-term landlord.
"Rents go up 3 per cent a year, so the property is worth much more now than 20 years ago," says Miles Byrne, who managed Harbor Point for eight years and knows its people well.
"We're incentivised to ensure it never goes bad. Under the Irish model, the developer is incentivised to make it look good on day one, when it's all up for sale.
Nobody asks how the area is going to be managed in the years ahead, what's the life expectancy of the lifts, roofs, etc, and how much it's going to cost to maintain."
The centrepiece of Harbor Point is a wide tree-lined boulevard, flanked by apartment blocks up to seven storeys high.
A small shopping arcade occupies the ground floor of one of these blocks, while the others are fronted by attractive shrubs and bedding plants. There is no evidence of vandalism or graffiti anywhere.
Colourful balloons decorate the entrance to the estate's leasing office, where prospective tenants are interviewed for the 2 per cent of units vacant at any given time.
"We have control over who goes in here," says Miles Byrne. "It's not like an apartment complex in Dublin, where there would be a whole lot of individual landlords."
One-bedroom apartments have floor areas of 56sq m (600sq ft), with good-sized rooms and even walk-in closets.
And because every block has a sprinkler system, apartments have a more open aspect, with no enclosed hallways.
The central heating, ventilation and air conditioning system is run on gas-fired boilers.
The rules are quite straightforward: tenants must pay the rent on time, not bother the neighbours, take care of their own apartments and disclose who's living with them.
"We need to get to know people, find out who they are and learn their names," says Byrne. "Because guys can't be dangerous if they're not anonymous."
Thirty-six nationalities are represented at Harbor Point, and around half of the residents are black.
There's a crèche, a youth centre with an outreach programme, a full-service health centre to cater for 500 kids under the age of 18 as well as two outdoor swimming pools, one for lounging around and the other for lapping.
Harbor Point also has a newly refurbished fitness centre with cardio and weight machines and a large function room upstairs with a fully-equipped kitchen that can be used for anything from teenage discos to residents' group meetings and other community events. The focus is on engaging people - and keeping them occupied.
"When you go into dysfunctional communities and provide a support structure based on exacting standards, things go right," Byrne says.
"Forty-six households need psychiatric medicines so family members can lead productive lives, and we see them regularly.
Any physical damage is fixed right away; not to do so is to create a cancer."
I was invited to attend one of the meetings at which any problems at Harbor Point are discussed openly by a committee that includes the chairman of the residents' council, the heads of maintenance and security, one of the social workers in the area and a representative of the developers - on this occasion, Miles Byrne himself.
It was a remarkable exchange of views. Clearly, everyone present was on first-name terms with all of the problem tenants - whether they were people who wouldn't be getting their doors and windows painted until they cleaned up their flats, or a 19-year-old male who had molested a seven-year-old boy in the computer room.
"There are good people in every community, so whenever we have a conflict we always find some way to turn things around," Byrne says.
"It's all about getting residents' trust first - the rest is design, construction and maintenance. We've never had to go to arbitration.
"We defer to the residents' council because they live here."
Fingal county manager David O'Connor was so impressed with Harbor Point when he visited Boston earlier this year that an 11-strong group of councillors and officials went back there last week to have a second look, on an information tour organised by Patricia Crisp, Corcoran Jennison's Dublin-based European director, who also organised this reporter's visit.
But Dublin City Council's housing department has so far declined an invitation to go see the place - most probably because Harbor Point implicitly challenges the traditional way of providing social and affordable housing, as well as the rigid segregation imposed by its officials in the redevelopment of "sink" estates.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
COLUMBIA POINT used to be one of the worst slums in North America. Despite its beautiful location on Boston Harbour, not far from the Kennedy Library, it was wracked by every imaginable social problem, mostly drug-related. It was a ghetto, physically isolated from the city, a place nobody wanted to go.
Mostly boarded up when developers Corcoran Mullins Jennison (CMJ) arrived on the scene in 1987, it became the first federal housing project in the United States to be converted to mixed-income housing.
And with the end-result winning several awards, it has served as an exemplary model for similar schemes elsewhere.
Anyone coming back after 20 years would barely recognise it. The name was changed to Harbor Point, to extirpate old associations, and the entire estate redeveloped to provide 1,283 attractive apartments and townhouses - supported by a range of social facilities, including shops, playgrounds and places for sitting out.
Low-income households benefiting from rent allowances account for just over 31 per cent of the overall mix, but there's no distinction between them and tenants paying the full market rent of $1,700 to $1,800 a month (€1,197 to €1,268); everyone lives together, instead of being socially segregated in different blocks.
What is also unusual about Harbor Point is that it's owned and managed by the same company that developed it - co-founded, incidentally, by Irish-American entrepreneur Joe Corcoran, whose parents hailed from Co Roscommon; he made a fortune from property investments and still runs the company at the age of 72.
Corcoran Jennison pitched for the PPP contracts from Dublin City Council to redevelop Dominick Street, O'Devaney Gardens and St Michael's Estate - losing out to Bernard McNamara. But now, with McNamara out of the picture, the Boston-based firm is pressing hard to get back into the frame by highlighting its track record.
Its focus is on developing and managing sustainable communities that work well for residents and for the company, as long-term landlord.
"Rents go up 3 per cent a year, so the property is worth much more now than 20 years ago," says Miles Byrne, who managed Harbor Point for eight years and knows its people well.
"We're incentivised to ensure it never goes bad. Under the Irish model, the developer is incentivised to make it look good on day one, when it's all up for sale.
Nobody asks how the area is going to be managed in the years ahead, what's the life expectancy of the lifts, roofs, etc, and how much it's going to cost to maintain."
The centrepiece of Harbor Point is a wide tree-lined boulevard, flanked by apartment blocks up to seven storeys high.
A small shopping arcade occupies the ground floor of one of these blocks, while the others are fronted by attractive shrubs and bedding plants. There is no evidence of vandalism or graffiti anywhere.
Colourful balloons decorate the entrance to the estate's leasing office, where prospective tenants are interviewed for the 2 per cent of units vacant at any given time.
"We have control over who goes in here," says Miles Byrne. "It's not like an apartment complex in Dublin, where there would be a whole lot of individual landlords."
One-bedroom apartments have floor areas of 56sq m (600sq ft), with good-sized rooms and even walk-in closets.
And because every block has a sprinkler system, apartments have a more open aspect, with no enclosed hallways.
The central heating, ventilation and air conditioning system is run on gas-fired boilers.
The rules are quite straightforward: tenants must pay the rent on time, not bother the neighbours, take care of their own apartments and disclose who's living with them.
"We need to get to know people, find out who they are and learn their names," says Byrne. "Because guys can't be dangerous if they're not anonymous."
Thirty-six nationalities are represented at Harbor Point, and around half of the residents are black.
There's a crèche, a youth centre with an outreach programme, a full-service health centre to cater for 500 kids under the age of 18 as well as two outdoor swimming pools, one for lounging around and the other for lapping.
Harbor Point also has a newly refurbished fitness centre with cardio and weight machines and a large function room upstairs with a fully-equipped kitchen that can be used for anything from teenage discos to residents' group meetings and other community events. The focus is on engaging people - and keeping them occupied.
"When you go into dysfunctional communities and provide a support structure based on exacting standards, things go right," Byrne says.
"Forty-six households need psychiatric medicines so family members can lead productive lives, and we see them regularly.
Any physical damage is fixed right away; not to do so is to create a cancer."
I was invited to attend one of the meetings at which any problems at Harbor Point are discussed openly by a committee that includes the chairman of the residents' council, the heads of maintenance and security, one of the social workers in the area and a representative of the developers - on this occasion, Miles Byrne himself.
It was a remarkable exchange of views. Clearly, everyone present was on first-name terms with all of the problem tenants - whether they were people who wouldn't be getting their doors and windows painted until they cleaned up their flats, or a 19-year-old male who had molested a seven-year-old boy in the computer room.
"There are good people in every community, so whenever we have a conflict we always find some way to turn things around," Byrne says.
"It's all about getting residents' trust first - the rest is design, construction and maintenance. We've never had to go to arbitration.
"We defer to the residents' council because they live here."
Fingal county manager David O'Connor was so impressed with Harbor Point when he visited Boston earlier this year that an 11-strong group of councillors and officials went back there last week to have a second look, on an information tour organised by Patricia Crisp, Corcoran Jennison's Dublin-based European director, who also organised this reporter's visit.
But Dublin City Council's housing department has so far declined an invitation to go see the place - most probably because Harbor Point implicitly challenges the traditional way of providing social and affordable housing, as well as the rigid segregation imposed by its officials in the redevelopment of "sink" estates.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Saturday, 28 June 2008
Funding shortfall halts social housing scheme
FUNDING FOR voluntary social housing in Dublin has been suspended because the city council has used up its annual allocation under the main scheme operated by the Department of the Environment.
A department spokesman said the council had reached its allocated borrowing level for the year and, as a result, no further social housing projects would be sanctioned under the scheme.
Dublin City Council’s allocation under the Capital Loan and Subsidy Scheme is €29 million out of a total of €160 million nationally. It had planned to spend over €87 million.
The funding crisis has arisen because of a glut in completions of Part V housing units; these are units built by developers to meet their obligations to provide 20 per cent social and affordable housing, and which are then sold to local authorities.
After a slow start, the number of Part V completions has soared and, with it, the bill payable by county councils. This has drawn funds away from traditional projects undertaken by housing associations and charitable groups.
The department spokesman said the Part V housing scheme gets priority because the houses are built.
Another factor prompting councils to divert money to Part V housing is believed to be the fear of litigation if developers are not paid.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
A department spokesman said the council had reached its allocated borrowing level for the year and, as a result, no further social housing projects would be sanctioned under the scheme.
Dublin City Council’s allocation under the Capital Loan and Subsidy Scheme is €29 million out of a total of €160 million nationally. It had planned to spend over €87 million.
The funding crisis has arisen because of a glut in completions of Part V housing units; these are units built by developers to meet their obligations to provide 20 per cent social and affordable housing, and which are then sold to local authorities.
After a slow start, the number of Part V completions has soared and, with it, the bill payable by county councils. This has drawn funds away from traditional projects undertaken by housing associations and charitable groups.
The department spokesman said the Part V housing scheme gets priority because the houses are built.
Another factor prompting councils to divert money to Part V housing is believed to be the fear of litigation if developers are not paid.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 6 May 2007
Travellers' €1.3m Blackrock houses to be allocated in July
SIX €217,000 houses for travellers in Blackrock, Co Dublin will be ready for allocation in July.
The small estate on former Church lands at Temple Hill will cost more than €1.3m. The six houses are being developed by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.
The single story residences will each include a fully-fitted kitchen, living room, three bedrooms, a bathroom and a front and back garden. It is hoped that the accommodation will be ready for six families from the travelling community by this July.
Members of the county council who are in charge of the development have also said that it will provide a Maintenance Manager for the dwellings who will visit the site on a regular basis to maintain the green area.
Maire Hickey, Council administration officer says that, despite the fact the residences are in a prominent area of Dublin, they are not more expensive for the council to build than if they were in any other area of the capital.
"I suppose they are worth a lot more than other units we have built because they are in the middle of Blackrock, so there would be a very high value on them in that respect. But for us to build the houses in that particular area wouldn't cost us any more than if we had built them anywhere else."
The land was given to the council by the Daughters of Charity who have a convent close to the site in Blackrock.
Sunday Independent
The small estate on former Church lands at Temple Hill will cost more than €1.3m. The six houses are being developed by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.
The single story residences will each include a fully-fitted kitchen, living room, three bedrooms, a bathroom and a front and back garden. It is hoped that the accommodation will be ready for six families from the travelling community by this July.
Members of the county council who are in charge of the development have also said that it will provide a Maintenance Manager for the dwellings who will visit the site on a regular basis to maintain the green area.
Maire Hickey, Council administration officer says that, despite the fact the residences are in a prominent area of Dublin, they are not more expensive for the council to build than if they were in any other area of the capital.
"I suppose they are worth a lot more than other units we have built because they are in the middle of Blackrock, so there would be a very high value on them in that respect. But for us to build the houses in that particular area wouldn't cost us any more than if we had built them anywhere else."
The land was given to the council by the Daughters of Charity who have a convent close to the site in Blackrock.
Sunday Independent
Friday, 5 January 2007
O'Devaney Gardening: Sowing The Seeds Of Regeneration In An Inner City Community
Thia article on Indymedia is worth reading:
Lena Jordan talks about the upcoming plans to redevelop O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7
O'Devaney Gardens redevelopment is only beginning. The tenants of the local authority complex are trying to organise themselves, so they can demand what their community needs effectively when the tender is given to a developer.
O'Devaney Gardens (ODG) is a local authority housing estate comprised of just under 300 flats, located at the end of the North Circular Road in the west of the inner city. It is a 16-acre site adjacent to the Phoenix Park, close to the Red LUAS line, Heuston Station and within walking distance of the city centre, the 'new' Smithfield and the courts district. At present Dublin City Council (DCC) have put out a tender for redeveloping the entire site. Three private developers are in the running for the awarding of the tender. The plan for development has not been finalised yet, and the tenants of ODG are unsure of what the final outcome of the transformation of their home will look like.
For the rest follow this link: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/71921?topic=housing&comment_limit=0&condense_comments=false#comment178423
Lena Jordan talks about the upcoming plans to redevelop O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7
O'Devaney Gardens redevelopment is only beginning. The tenants of the local authority complex are trying to organise themselves, so they can demand what their community needs effectively when the tender is given to a developer.
O'Devaney Gardens (ODG) is a local authority housing estate comprised of just under 300 flats, located at the end of the North Circular Road in the west of the inner city. It is a 16-acre site adjacent to the Phoenix Park, close to the Red LUAS line, Heuston Station and within walking distance of the city centre, the 'new' Smithfield and the courts district. At present Dublin City Council (DCC) have put out a tender for redeveloping the entire site. Three private developers are in the running for the awarding of the tender. The plan for development has not been finalised yet, and the tenants of ODG are unsure of what the final outcome of the transformation of their home will look like.
For the rest follow this link: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/71921?topic=housing&comment_limit=0&condense_comments=false#comment178423
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