Modular homes endangered after €20m tender cancelled
By Maurice Garvey
PROPOSALS for 50 modular homes in Dublin South Central could in danger after the cancellation of a €20 million tender for a pilot project, according to Independent councillor Vincent Jackson.
The news is untimely in Ballyfemot, with the latest housing figures showing an increase of 451 people on the housing list since January 2015.
Up to 24 modular homes are planned for an open green space at the junction of Cherry Orchard Avenue and Cherry Orchard Drive, with a further 29 modular homes to be located in Mourne Road, Crumlin.
Tenders for 131 modular homes at four sites in Dublin, including Ballyfermot and Crumlin – will be re-issued after a previous tender cancelled with Dublin City Council.
The first homes were due to be built in Ballymun last December but an insufficient number of applicants took up the tender.
DCC say the projects will still go ahead and work will commence in Ballyfermot and Drimnagh in April.
Cllr Jackson says it looks bad” for the scheme, and has questioned “value for money” in spending €190,000 on each individual home, when they will be “rented on a 30-year lease.”
“The council could easily but up two or three houses in estates, and house families there, rather then spending a lot of money on something they won’t even own,” said Cllr Jackson.
The controversial modular housing scheme was introduced last year as an emergency response to the housing crisis by Environment Minister Alan Kelly – but it has been heavily criticised in community quarters.
Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan called the modular housing delay a “big blow to homeless families.”
Cllr Doolan cited latest housing statistics for Dublin South Central, which increased from 5,684 in October, to 5,813 in January – an increase of 127.
“In Ballyfermot alone the number has increased from 2,070 to 2,129,” he said.
Cllr Doolan said: “Despite all the talk about recovery, the housing crisis deepens. Nowhere is that clearer than here in Dublin South Central where an extra 127 families are on the housing list since last October.
“It is a sad legacy of the last government. We need houses and we need them as a matter of urgency. For whoever is in the new government, housing must be a priority.”
He continued: “The long-term solution is to build enough social and affordable homes to meet the needs of those languishing on our housing lists.
“The number of homeless families is shocking. It has increased in the last year from 493 to 1,042.
“The increase in children who are homeless is even worse. It has increased from 780 to 1,570 in the last 12 months. Modular housing is not the panacea but it will help move families out of hotels and B&Bs.”
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