People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy (Housing SPC Member) has said the loss of 140 planned social homes at Daneswell Place in Glasnevin shows that the private housing market cannot deliver the homes people need.
The homes were previously included in Dublin City Council’s housing delivery pipeline, and it was indicated that they would be acquired by Co-operative Housing Ireland, an approved housing body. However, it is understood that Co-operative Housing Ireland could not secure the funding to buy the apartments. They are now being offered by the developer on the private market at €2,400 per month for a one-bedroom apartment, €2,900 for a two-bedroom and €4,500 for a three-bedroom.
Councillor Reddy said:
“This is devastating for people who have already spent years, and in some cases decades, waiting for social housing. I talk to these people every day. Many are on the housing list for Finglas-Cabra Area A, which includes Glasnevin. These homes were in the pipeline and were expected to come on stream soon. People will have held out hope that one of them might finally provide their family with a secure home.
“They are now being offered on the private market at completely ridiculous rents. €2,400 for a one-bed, €2,900 for a two-bed and €4,500 for a three-bed is not affordable housing. Even people on decent incomes would struggle to pay these rents, and they are completely unsustainable for any family across a lifetime.
“Profit is at the root of the housing crisis. Developers build when it suits their profit margins and hold back when it does not. That is why we are seeing no building on sites with active planning permission. In Dublin alone, there is permission for at least 30,000 homes and none of them are being built. This is happening while people are homeless and trapped on housing lists.
“Because of the madness of the market, councils are also being forced to pay exorbitant prices to acquire homes under Part V from private developers, including recent examples on the Jamestown Business Park lands in my own area and across Dublin.
“Last month, councillors were forced into an incredibly cynical exercise of rezoning vast tracts of public and private land for housing. Yet we have seen here again that private developers will not deliver the social and affordable homes we need.
“Dublin City Council’s recently launched direct-build programme is a good example of what can be done. In-house architects, planners and procurement staff will develop the projects, with private builders contracted to construct the homes. This approach is more cost-effective than the failed public-private partnership system and shows the kind of public capacity we need to build.
“The only way to deliver social and affordable housing at the scale required is through public development and public capacity. That must begin with direct council delivery and progress towards a not-for-profit State construction company capable of building homes according to need, rather than according to the profit margin a developer may or may not make.”