SDCC ask government for €86m to help housing development

By Maurice Garvey

SOUTH Dublin County Council has applied for €86 million in government development funding – the bulk of which is required for additional investment at sites in Adamstown and Clonburris.

More than 20 local authorities across the country have applied for €600m in Local Infrastructural Housing Activation Fund to provide large-scale transport, water and sewage schemes to service lands zoned for housing.

The Government has committed a total of €200m, three-quarters of which will be exchequer funding, with local authorities taking on the remaining costs.

The fund is designed to enable developers build 20,000 homes on lands left unused because of a lack of essential services.

The Department of Housing last month sought applications from local authorities for the first of €50 million of the fund, which will be released in 2017.

Most of the fund requested by SDCC is needed for Adamstown (€37m) and Clonburris (€38m).

Dublin City Council has applied for €80m for six areas, including Cherry Orchard, which needs €9m for water infrastructure.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney said his department were assessing the applications and looking for “potential quick wins” which would be announced next month.

Up to 21 councils have applied for €600m in funding for more than 70 infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile, this week, Minister Coveney announced fast-track delivery arrangements for 30,000 new homes in major urban centres under the government’s Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness.

The envisaged total housing yield under the plan listed by the department is, 7,400 homes in the Adamstown SDZ – 8,000 homes in the Clonburris SDZ and 1,000 homes in Corkagh.