‘Think outside the box’: Cork General Election candidates says log cabins and containers can be used to solve housing crisis

The Independent councillor and general election candidate for Cork South Central, Paudie Dineen, has said that there is a need to “think outside the box” to fix the housing and accommodation shortage.

Mr Dineen is unable to canvass door to door due to recent cancer treatment, but said that other candidates’ manifestos contain unrealistic promises on housing.

“Housing seems to be the one issue where miracles are going to happen,” Mr Dineen said. 

“The manifestos are published, and they are all saying the same thing. The only difference is that the numbers are different.”

Mr Dineen said that he “does not believe that it is possible to roll out 1,000 homes per week and, if the new government somehow manage to pull off this miracle, I can only assume that it will cost a fortune to make it happen”.

Mr Dineen criticised the high cost of ‘affordable’ housing, and he suggested an alternative.

“We need to provide serviced, ready-to-go sites on state lands, where young couples can build their own home, be it modular, container, or log-cabin-type homes, which can be built at less than half the price of current homes.

“The couples would rent the site from the local authority, by way of a 25- to 30-year lease, with an option to purchase the site thereafter, or top up the lease by another 10 to 15 years.

“Planning for the site will already be approved and the build itself would be subject to certain planning specifications.”

Mr Dineen continued: “We must also look at the provision of serviced sites with planning and, once again, subject to conditions for trailer parks, where couples and individuals can, by agreement with the council, live in mobile homes, if they so wish.”