Plans to deliver more than 5,650 new social and affordable homes in Cork city unveiled 

PLANS to deliver up to 5,671 new social and affordable homes across Cork City over the next five years have been unveiled.

Cork City Council’s Housing Delivery Action Plan aims to deliver 3,934 social housing homes and 1,737 affordable homes from 2022 to 2026, in line with the targets set out by the Government under its Housing for All strategy.

The local authority and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) will each contribute 50% to the delivery of the overall social housing targets.

Affordable housing is proposed to be delivered via three streams — the local authority, AHBs, and the Land Development Agency.

Of these 1,737 affordable homes, which the council notes are deemed “minimum affordable delivery targets”, the local authority is to provide 378 homes and the balance is to be delivered by AHBs and the LDA through affordable purchase and cost-rental schemes.

Cork City Council said it is confident, in partnership with both AHBs and the LDA, that the proposed housing delivery detailed in the plan can be delivered within the timeframe.

“This is the first plan in recent times to deliver both social and affordable homes in Cork City, and I am delighted to see such an amazing number of homes being committed to in the plan and supported by Government,” Fine Gael councillor Deirdre Forde, the mayor of Cork City, said welcoming the action plan.

Fianna Fáil councillor Tony Fitzgerald said Cork City Council are “very aware of the housing needs for both social and affordable homes” and described the plan as a “springboard to further address the housing crisis”.

Sinn Féin councillor Eolan Ryng said Cork City Council “are to be commended for putting together this plan” but said the “devil will be in the detail and the proof will be in the delivery”.

“I’m conscious that in the April CE Report, 99 new applications joined the almost 10,000 currently in need of social housing support,” he said. “This would indicate that the targets put down by Government are too low.”