Councillors grant planning permission for 121 homes as delivery continues to increase

Fingal councillors granted planning permission for 121 homes and a creche at Mayeston in Dublin 11 at the April monthly meeting of Fingal County Council.

This brings to 923 the number of homes in the Council’s housing pipeline that have obtained planning permission, and, within those 16 projects, there are 322 homes already under construction on 10 sites with another 421, on two other sites, due to commence construction by the end of the year.

Under Housing For All, the Government’s housing policy, the Council, Affordable Housing Bodies and the Land Development Agency, have been set a target of delivering 6,532 social, affordable and cost rental homes by 2026 of which 3,453 will be social.  The Council will also construct 993 affordable purchase and cost rental homes while the Land Development Agency and Affordable Housing Bodies will deliver 2,086 affordable purchase and cost rental homes between them. 

The Council exceeded its targets in 2022 as it delivered 368 homes through construction and new builds, 157 as a result of long-term leasing, 81 by acquisition and 585 under the Housing Assistance Payments scheme.

The development at Mayeston, which now proceeds to tender stage, will consist of five blocks of apartments ranging in height from three to six storeys and will contain 36 one-bedroom homes, 19 two-bedroom three person homes, 54 two-bedroom four person homes and 12 three-bedroom homes. The varying building heights have been designed in relation to sunlight, noise and surrounding context and will be built to a Near Zero Emission Building (NZEB) standard.

The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Howard Mahony, said: “The granting of planning permission for the development at Mayeston means another 121 homes are moving along the Council’s pipeline towards construction and 121 families on our housing list are closer to getting a home. It’s an excellent development with different types of homes and the inclusion of a creche and playground on the site are welcome additions.”

The Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, said: “We had a strong housing delivery in 2022 and provided 1,191 social housing units through a variety of mechanisms. Our pipeline currently consists of 32 projects which will deliver over 3,000 social, affordable and cost rental homes. We have committed to spending €542million on housing over the next three years, which is over half our Capital Programme, as we work to deliver our Housing For All targets.”

At a special meeting before the monthly meeting of Council, councillors received a presentation from Fingal County Council’s Director of Housing and Community Development, Robert Burns, during which he updated the elected members on housing delivery.

In addition to detailing the progress being made in relation to the provision of new homes, Mr Burns also reported that 70 vacant properties have been brought back into productive use since 2019 and added that the work on restoring 14 cottages at St Ita’s, Portrane, is an excellent example of the Council’s determination and success at bringing homes back into use and preserving the county’s built heritage.

He also updated councillors on the current situation in relation to tenants dealing with Notices To Quit following the lifting of the eviction ban and said that the Council is following the policy and guidance that has issued from Government and has adopted a tenant-centred approach with a focus on preventing homelessness.

He added that 14 properties have reached the sale agreed stage, 47 are in negotiations with the landlord to purchase and a further 43 homes are under consideration by Acquisitions team.

To watch the special meeting go to County Council - Tuesday 11 April 2023, 3:00pm - Fingal County Council Webcasting (public-i.tv)

To watch the monthly meeting go to  County Council - Tuesday 11 April 2023, 5:00pm - Fingal County Council Webcasting (public-i.tv)