Just under 70 prospective homebuyers vied to purchase 12 homes in Dublin City Council’s first affordable housing scheme to go on sale in more than a decade.
The three-bed houses at Oileáin na Crannóige, Ballymun, with prices starting at €264,285, are expected to be completed by the end of this year, in advance of the Oscar Traynor Road affordable scheme in Coolock, where the first houses are due to be ready early next year.
With 68 applicants for the 12 State-subsidised Ballymun houses, the council held a lottery to select buyers and has in recent days made provisional offers to the successful applicants.
The discounted houses, which range in price from €264,285 to €304,000 are considerably cheaper than the Oscar Traynor Woods scheme, where three-bed houses, which are also State subsidised, cost from €360,931 to €475,000.
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Under the terms of the State scheme, the lower prices set for the Ballymun homes means households with lower incomes are eligible to buy. While a buyer with a minimum household income of €59,000 could buy a three-bed house at Oileáin na Crannóige, at Oscar Traynor Woods, just over 3km away in Coolock, the lowest eligible income for the three-bed homes on offer is €81,000.
Buyers with household incomes of €59,000 could buy a discounted home in Oscar Traynor Woods, but would only be eligible for a one-bed “maisonette”.
While Oscar Traynor Woods is being built under a deal between the council and private developer Glenveagh, the council is developing Oileáin na Crannóige with not-for-profit housing body Ó Cualann. However, the council said the cost of the homes is related to the open market values of houses in each area.
The scheme works by offering eligible buyers a discount on the market value with the State taking an equity stake in the home to reflect the discount given. For the Ballymun houses the maximum equity which will be held by the council is just over 15 per cent, while in Coolock the council’s maximum stake will be almost 28 per cent. In both cases the State’s stake is repayable on the sale of the property or after a maximum of 40 years.
Ó Cualann has been running its affordable housing purchase schemes, using a co-op model, in Ballymun since 2017. The last State programme was discontinued in 2011 when the property crash resulted in houses on the open market being sold for prices lower than those in the State-subsidised schemes.
Applications for the first 16 homes in Oscar Traynor Woods, where prices start at €254,358 for the one-beds, are open and will close on August 20th.
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