Apartments to be leased to council
A NEW development of 71 apartments located opposite Bray Dart Station will be leased to Wicklow County Council for social housing for a period of 25 years.
At a recent meeting of Bray Municipal District, Cllr Joe Behan raised the matter of Dargan Hall.
He asked how this had come about, and what will happen to the residents when the 25-year lease is up.
Housing administrative officer Triona Irving said that there is a national housing agency, which is a state body, through which the enhanced leasing agreement was made.
Developers are permitted to propose anything in excess of 20 units to be rented at up to 95 per cent of the market rate. Rent reviews will be done at three-year intervals on such projects. Cllr Behan said that this is a much more expensive solution in the long term to building 71 units.
‘It’s rent going down the drain,’ he said. ‘And after 25 years, the builder could take them back. They have to be handed back in the condition they were given, and that costs more money. If the deal was done in 1995, those people would be leaving today,’ said Cllr Behan.
Ms Irving said that the council would have an obligation to the tenants to house them
in alternative accommodation under those circumstances.
Cllr Behan said that would have an effect on people who happen to be on the housing lease in 25 years.
The development consists of 31 one-bedroom apartments, 38 two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units.
The Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and
Homelessness included a target of 20 per cent of new units to be delivered under lease arrangements.
Tenants will be nominated by Wicklow County Council and the lessor is responsible for management of the units. The current completion date is November 2021.
‘While I welcome the news that a further 71 housing units will be provided for people on the Housing List in Bray, I am deeply disappointed that a private developer will ultimately benefit from hard earned taxpayers’ money to provide public housing,’ said Cllr Behan.
‘ This is the reality of handing over responsibility and funding for essential public housing to the private sector. Public money is handed out for private gain,’ he said. ‘What we need in this country is a properly organised and funded public housing action plan and task force to provide social and affordable housing to the hundreds of thousands of people who desperately need it.
‘We have the resources but sadly, even after the many promises made in the recent general election, the new Government hasn’t got the vision or the will to get this job done. He said that he had concerns regarding ‘ the lack of information and consultation for the public and councillors about this project’.
Cllr Behan said that they were initially informed about the matter by voicemail, followed by an email. ‘We had no opportunity to discuss it, to ask questions about it or to find out exactly how much public money is being handed over in this deal. I would also like to know what facilities will be in this development for elderly and infirm tenants and what the arrangements will be for rents, repairs, and insurance.’