The State’s Housing Agency has entered into a contract with Cairn Homes to deliver 332 apartments for sale to owner-occupiers at a newly built town under a scheme designed to bridge the affordability of apartment construction.
The one- and two-bedroom apartments will be available for €225,000 and €350,000, respectively, at Seven Mills in Clonburris, a new urban development on the banks of the Grand Canal between Clondalkin and Lucan.
“This is a really significant agreement, and is a bellwether for this scheme,” said Housing Agency chief executive Martin Whelan of the development, which will comprise 83 one-bedroom and 249 two-bedroom units.
The housing body said its call for proposals under the scheme, which closed in August, generated more than 40 submissions for nearly 6,000 apartments.
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Cairn Homes chief executive Michael Stanley told The Irish Times the development was “not viable” without the support of the Housing Agency. He said the Croí Cónaithe (cities) scheme was creating the “first opportunity to get a lot of homeowners into apartments”, which he said had been difficult until now.
The scheme was launched in 2022, aimed at subsidising the cost of building apartments to address the viability gap for the sale to owner-occupiers. The scheme is expected to spend €450 million to support the delivery of 5,000 apartments by the end of 2027.
Cairn Homes had initially agreed prices for one- and two-bedroom apartments of €245,000 and €365,000 respectively under the scheme. However, the reduction of the VAT rate on apartments in the budget from 13.5 to 9 per cent further reduced the cost.
“The better news is that the recent VAT cut gets passed on directly to the end user here,” Mr Stanley said, noting it had reduced the cost per apartment to €225,000 and €350,000.
Cairn said the price reduction would enable young people, and earners on salaries of €50,000 to €60,000, to buy into the town, which would complement the existing “blend” of mixed tenure, private homes, affordable purchase, and cost rental units.
Cairn has also availed of the scheme for developments in Cherrywood, Dublin, set to launch in November, as well as in Douglas, Co Cork, with a “further pipeline of three or four more projects”.
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So far, 1,616 apartments have been contracted under the Croí Cónaithe scheme, said the Housing Agency. The developments have primarily been based in Dublin and Cork, with Limerick, Galway, and Waterford also eligible under the scheme.
Such apartments are available for purchase by any individual or household that will make it their primary residence. That excludes investors or those buying a second residence.
“Seven Mills is one of the biggest new towns anywhere in Europe, and certainly Ireland’s biggest with 25,000 people getting new homes,” said the Cairn Homes chief executive.
The home builder was also involved in the planned delivery of 607 cost-rental homes at Seven Mills earlier this year, in conjunction with the Land Development Agency. The apartments delivered will be long-term rental options offered at below-market rates, comprising 257 one-bedroom, 318 two-bedroom, and 32 three-bedroom apartments.
Last week, the home builder placed an indicative price tag of €28.58 million on 51 one- and two-bedroom apartments it plans to sell to Dublin City Council as part of its proposed €295 million apartment scheme on former RTÉ lands in Dublin 4, aimed at fulfilling social housing obligations.
