Legal issue resolved over 32 social housing units

A LEGAL row that resulted in social housing units being left vacant for nearly 18 months has been resolved.

According to the Business Post, the resolution between RediResi, a large investment fund, and South Dublin County Council, means that the apartments can now be assigned to social housing tenants.

Round Garden, a complex of 32 apartments based beside the Citywest Hotel, was acquired by RediResi in December 2019 for €7.15 million.

Following the purchase, the investor renovated the properties with the majority ready for occupation between August and December 2020.

The fund acquired the properties on the basis it would renovate the homes and lease them to South Dublin County Council for 25 years.

The local authority is in line to pay €483,593 per apartment over the term of the lease. RediResi purchased each home for roughly €220,000

In June 2021, Sunnytale Limited, a subsidiary of RediResi, lodged High Court proceedings against South Dublin County Council. The investment fund alleged the local authority failed to comply with its obligation to lease the 32 homes after renovations were finished.

The council refused to proceed with the lease agreement due to a matter that arose over access to the site. The Round Garden complex is only accessible via a private road and the council was not satisfied that RediResi could assure long-term access.

Sunnytale claimed it was losing in excess of €50,000 a month due to the council not proceeding to lease the homes.

RediResi is a joint venture investment fund between investors in Britain and Ireland. The fund bulk buys homes to lease to local authorities for social housing. It entered the Irish market in 2019 and has established a fund of over €90 million to buy homes.

Over the next several years, RediResi has targeted to build a portfolio of 2,000 social housing units that will be leased to Irish local authorities.