Site at Cork's Dublin Hill to be assessed for affordable housing

Forty-one hectares in Dublin Hill are to be surveyed by the Land Development Agency (LDA) to assess their suitability for affordable and social housing.

The lands identified in the Government’s Housing for All Plan for transfer to the LDA include what is owned by the State under the management of IDA Ireland.

The land, and its potential to provide housing, was identified in the ‘Report on Relevant Public Land’ published by the LDA in 2023, where it was estimated that it could yield 3,250 to 4,420 homes.

It was categorised as a class-3 site, with all sites ranked between one and three. Class 3 is the most challenging to develop.

Total costs of between €1.07bn and €1.3bn are estimated for the project, though a letter from the LDA to Cork City councillors, in the northeast and northwest wards, states that “the information contained in the report, however, regarding housing yield and associated statistics, has to be tested further and are estimates only, until such time as the appropriate baseline work has been undertaken”.

The aim of Housing for All (HFA) is that “everyone in the State have access to a home, to purchase or rent at an affordable price, built to a high standard and in the right place, offering a high quality of life,” the letter said.

Affordable homes

The LDA is a commercial, State-sponsored body that has been established to co-ordinate State and other land to provide affordable and social homes and build communities across Ireland.

The LDA’s functions include co-ordinating appropriate State lands for regeneration and development and opening up for housing key sites that are not being used.

They also drive strategic land assembly, working with both public- and private-sector landowners to stabilise land values and deliver increased affordability.

Over the coming months, the LDA will be undertaking non-invasive survey work and early baseline analysis on the site.

In the short to medium term, survey individuals and teams may be visible on the lands, conducting these studies, so the LDA said they are “informing the key stakeholders now of this to allay any immediate concerns”.

The LDA letter said that “these are early-stage surveys and studies designed to gain a better understanding of the conditions, constraints, and opportunities of the site and to understand the environmental, technical, and infrastructure considerations.

“The analysis will assist the LDA in understanding the options in any possible future development of the site, or parts of the site.”