51 new cost rental homes to be built in Cork

A CORK TD has welcomed the announcement by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien of funding for 51 new cost rental homes in Cork City.

The homes will be situated in Lotamore, and are part of a funding approval of over €100m announced by Mr O’Brien to deliver 547 new cost rental homes to five local authorities.

The announcement was welcomed by Pádraig O’Sullivan, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North Central.

“This is great news for Cork North Central, and it is great to see Cork City Council at the forefront of delivering cost rental homes in the city,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

“This development comes as part of the Government’s Housing for All programme, which seeks to provide affordable homes to purchase and rent, and it shows our commitment to tackling the housing crisis.”

Cost rental homes are aimed at people on middle incomes who are constrained by rents in the private rental market, but who do not meet the income criteria for social housing support.

Under the cost rental scheme, rents are set at a minimum of 25% below comparable market rates for the area with some developments achieving discounted rates of up to 50%.

Through these reduced rates, cost rental seeks to address the affordability challenges faced by some people in the housing market, and to help individuals and families to find homes that meet their needs and budget.

To qualify for cost rental housing, an applicant’s net household income must be below €66,000 per annum in Dublin and €59,000 for everywhere else.

Mr O’Brien said affordable cost rental homes delivered to date had been extremely popular, with most schemes oversubscribed.

“The high demand is a clear indication of the success of this form of housing and the effectiveness of our cost-rental approach.

“It’s vital that we scale up supply, and approvals such as these are ensuring we can do just that,” the housing minister said.

“Cost rental means affordable rents .

“It means security of tenure, it means top-quality homes and perhaps most importantly it means peace of mind for tenants, allowing them to establish roots in an area and plan for the future.”

In addition to the 51 new cost rental homes in Lotamore, the funding announced by Mr O’Brien will provide for the development of 28 homes in Co Laois, 25 in Kildare, 25 in Kilkenny city, and 417 in Dublin City.

Mr O’Brien said over €675m had already been approved to assist in the delivery of over 3,250 cost rental homes in 12 local authorities.

“Today’s announcement serves as an additional boost to the pipeline of new, cost rental homes,” he said.