Council tells Cork tenants that €11m in retrofits will take time

Cork City Council has cautioned northside social housing tenants that any works carried out as part of a retrofit programme potentially costing €11m will only come after detailed design work, which it says is likely to “take some time to complete”.

That warning comes as council tenants in Glenamoy Lawn and Árdbhaile, which consists of 262 homes, recently voted to accept a costly plan to upgrade their homes.

The first phase of that scheme would see 40 homes upgraded to a B2 or higher level of energy efficiency, with an average budget of €34,000 per apartment, and a maximum of €42,350.

Under the second phase of the upgrade, all of the remaining 222 homes which are below B2 level — and residents claim that means all 222 of them — would similarly be upgraded.

Phase one could cost a maximum of €1,694,000, while phase two could cost a maximum of €9,401,700, meaning the entire project could cost €11,095,700.

A council spokesperson said told The Echo it was “progressing preparatory work for major upgrades to the Glenamoy Lawn and Ard Bhaile estates under the Energy Efficiency Upgrade Programme Phase 2, which is funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.”

They added that the programme aimed “to bring all the existing social housing stock to a B2, or higher, energy efficiency standard”.

“However, full details of any proposed energy efficiency measures that may be required for each property will only be developed as part of detailed design work, which is ongoing, and which will take some time to complete.”

Almost a decade ago, Cork City Council replaced the heating system which serviced the two estates, and which had used an air-to-water system.

That air-to-air system, which cost a total of €4m — of which Cork City Council paid €800,000 — and was introduced between 2016 and 2017, is very unpopular with tenants, who have variously described it as extremely expensive to use and “completely useless”.

The council spokesperson said: “It should be noted that the current air-to-air heating system was installed almost a decade ago to replace an obsolete heating system that was costing Cork City Council more than €200,000 a year to maintain”.

However, council tenants have said the air-to-air system has caused multiple issues for them, something which was acknowledged by the council in a report issued recently to tenants.

Among those challenges were heating costs beyond what residents could afford, and the fact that heating in most properties was done solely by standalone heaters bought by tenants.

There were also significant issues, the council acknowledged, with mould growth in several properties, and ventilation was a major issue.

Local Workers’ Party councillor Ted Tynan said news of the refurbishment was welcome, but he questioned when it might be completed.

“This is going on for nearly 10 years now, and we’re none the wiser as to exactly when these works will be completed.

“It’s all very vague and the truth is that the council is still unwilling to admit it had made a massive and very costly mistake in installing the air-to-air system in the first place,” Mr Tynan said.

“The fact that the council never introduced air-to-air [heating systems] in any of its other properties tells its own story.”