Local authorities must vary their development plans to include affordable housing, writes Des Geraghty
This week's move by the Affordable Homes Partnership to make recommendations to two local authorities for a variation of their county development plans to provide for over 1,100 affordable homes in Dublin is an initiative designed to meet some of the high demand in our society for a place to live.
This move has sparked a debate about whether an intervention such as this is necessary.
In my mind, and having spent many years in trade unions, politics and campaigns, such an initiative is not just necessary, it is long overdue in the property market where for too long the individual landowner and developer has got most of the benefit and the wider community has had little gain.
The essence of this proposal is that the benefit of the increase in land value is shared between the community and the landowner.
The speculative housing market has not delivered enough value for money in the past and this, and other proposals that we intend to bring forward, will hopefully redress some of the balance.
The State, via the Affordable Homes Partnership, has had no choice but to intervene in this way.
Hopefully these interventions will be a precursor to a situation, which will eventually come about, whereby the rezoning of any lands will be conditional upon the owner of that land guaranteeing - prior to rezoning - that part of it will be available for some social good, rather than just producing a massive windfall for an opportunistic individual or company.
We are recommending these two sites as an excellent opportunity to deliver over 1,100 affordable homes in Dublin to benefit first-time buyers, with the homes being sold at discounts of 50 per cent and higher. Apart from this immediate benefit, there will be other dividends for the community.
The proposal for the South Dublin area, made by Ballymore, is to develop 115 acres of land at St Edmundsbury and Woodville adjoining the Liffey Valley and the Lucan Road for a mix of affordable and open-market homes.
This includes 16 acres of open space associated with the development. It is envisaged that the residential yield on the site would be 1,600 homes as follows: 1,000 affordable homes; 100 sheltered homes for the elderly and 500 homes to be sold at market value. The development will also include a three-acre site for a new school and a centre with creche/community facilities.
Ballymore proposes to donate 184 acres of the land in the Liffey Valley to South Dublin County Council for recreational and amenity purposes. The area designated as a special amenity area, 143 acres, will be transferred into public ownership.
Other lands to be transferred include the 16 acres of open space associated with the proposed development plus a further 25 acres in the ownership of Ballymore, all of which is in the Liffey Valley. This donation will provide for public access to the Liffey Valley which is a substantial community benefit.
The proposal for the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown area made by Ellen Construction is to develop 3.5 acres of land at Kilmarnock, Military Road, Killiney, Co Dublin, to provide primarily affordable homes for first-time buyers.
Approximately 140 apartments could be developed on the site, 70 per cent of which would be affordable. Kilmarnock House, located on the site, is a protected structure and will be retained.
We hope that these proposals will be considered favourably by the local authorities. Our recommendation is that the local authorities, South Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, approve the proposals by two Irish developers, Ballymore and Ellen, to vary their county development plans.
Once this happens our hope is that it will be followed by a grant of planning permission by the local authorities so the homes can be built quickly.
This power to recommend suitable sites is one assigned to the Affordable Homes Partnership by the Government.
We will be meeting the local authorities in the coming days to outline the proposals and their importance for young people looking for a quality place to live.
The proposals were submitted by the two developers in response to an initiative by the Affordable Homes Partnership.
The initiative commenced in November 2005 and invited proposals for the development of lands with a requirement that 70 per cent of the homes would be affordable.
The requirement was that the lands would be close to existing facilities and infrastructure but may not have had the appropriate zoning to facilitate development.
The Partnership is pursuing many different initiatives to achieve a greater supply of affordable homes including recommending sites such as these two, exchange of State land to obtain newly-built houses and assisting local authorities to maximise the number of affordable homes under Part V of the Planning Act.
For those who may not have heard or read about affordable homes, they are homes provided at a discount to the market price. The purchaser can live in the home for as long as they want but if they sell it within 20 years they have to pay back a percentage of the sale price to the local authority.
Affordable homes are aimed at first-time buyers earning less than approximately €55,000 a year as a single person or a combined salary less than €75,000 for couples.
Other means to provide affordable homes include delivery through Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 which requires that up to 20 per cent of all new residential developments are used to provide a mix of social housing and affordable housing.
The exchange of State lands is another innovative measure to provide more affordable homes.
Last year the exchange of Broc House in Dublin 4 yielded 89 homes in Ongar, Dublin 15, and the exchange of the two sites at Harcourt Terrace in Dublin 2 delivered over 400 homes across a number of locations in south Dublin.
The Affordable Homes Partnership has been established to co-ordinate and promote the delivery of affordable homes. It has published a new guide to affordable homes. The handbook is a clear resource for potential purchasers, developed by the Affordable Homes Partnership and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and is available at:
www.affordablehome.ie
Des Geraghty is the chair of the Affordable Homes Partnership