War of words over affordable Coolock housing

In Coolock, “affordable housing” costs €475,000.

The row over the affordable housing scheme on Oscar Traynor Road has turned into one of the newest battlefronts in Dublin’s housing crisis, with the most recent meeting of Dublin City Council dominated by discussion of the scheme.

A late 2021 deal signed off on by Dublin City Councillors designated that 853 homes were to be built on the 17 hectares of public land, with strict parameters around how the homes were designated.

40% of the homes have been earmarked for social housing, 40% were designated as cost-rental, and 20% were supposed to be rubberstamped as housing for low-to-middle earners.

What was supposed to be a PR win for a Government that is battling a housing crisis has turned an easy win into a controversy.

Independent Left councillor John Lyons told Northside People that he has “very serious and significant concerns” about the scheme.

Figures obtained by Lyons showed that a 1-bed house was in the €204,000 – €238,000 price range in October 2021 and has now jumped from €264,358 – €308,750.

A 2-bed house was to cost anywhere from €227,000 – €284,000 in October 2021 to €355,769 – €427,500 in June 2024, while a 3-bed went from €250,000 – €306,000 in October 2021 to €399,731 – €475,000 in June 2024.

“These figures are completely out of reach for the average family,” he said.

Lyons noted that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens, which now make up the current administration of Dublin City Council, “gifted” the land to private developers Glenveagh in 2021 and is a major factor in the current prices being so high.

“I voted against the deal at the time to say this isn’t the way we should be using public land and that Dublin City Council should keep hold of the site and we should be building truly affordable housing,” he said.

“This is an absolute squandering of what should have been a public asset,” he said.

Speaking in June 2023, Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien said “Oscar Traynor Road is a key strategic site. The large number of mixed-tenure homes to be delivered here will make a real difference. We are now in a position that we have a number of such sites, Shanganagh Castle and O’Devaney Gardens for example, and as a Government, we need to and we want to deliver more developments like these, right across the country.” 

“The construction programme will deliver the social, cost rental and affordable purchase homes in phases over four years.  In addition to much-needed housing, the scheme will also contribute to creating a vibrant community with amenity spaces, parks and a public realm to complement the residential area,” he said at the time.

Sinn Féin councillor Micheal Mac Donncha said the high house prices are a “clear breach of the commitments given.”

“At the time of the sale of this formerly public land, it was clear that these homes would be affordable and that this scheme would offer to working people the opportunity to purchase homes denied to them in the open market.”

He said that Dublin City Council members at the time voted for a scheme that promised “real affordability” and for the purposes of keeping prices low, retained the site as public land.

He said that Minister O’Brien “vetoed” it, and the subsequent fallout has revealed that O’Brien’s housing scheme has been “fully exposed as a scam.”

“The Government is forcing the Council to implement a scheme that makes a mockery of affordability,” he said.

Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan commented, “the Government has taken a brilliant idea with huge potential and managed to turn it into farce.”

O’Callaghan, who serves as the party spokesperson on housing, noted that the Affordable Housing Act made a “crucial” mistake in defining affordability as a discount of the full market price, and as such was subject to market pressures.

“As the market price has continued to spiral out of control, so too has the price of so-called affordable homes,” he said.

“We are now seeing the results, with supposedly affordable housing on State-owned land being sold for nearly half a million euro.”

“Oscar Traynor Woods, between Coolock and Santry, is just the latest example of a Government scheme that’s good for political spin but totally ineffective and wasteful in the real world.”

O’Callaghan’s party colleague, newly-elected councillor Eoin Hayes, cited Census statistics from 2022 that only the top 20% of earning households would be able to afford the 3-bed houses, while only the top 40% of earners would be able to afford the 1-bed houses.

“It’s not acceptable for the government to say these houses are affordable when they’re clearly not,” he said. 

Fine Gael councillor Naoise O’Muiri acknowledged “I would love it if houses were cheaper, we all would, but I think it would be good to hear how Sinn Féin are going to deliver cheaper housing,” remarking “we understand the reality of delivering housing, the survey of chartered surveyors understands the reality of costs when it comes to construction.”

Green councillor Doona Cooney noted, “if people don’t buy these houses, then there is the possibility that these become Dublin City Council down the line or become public housing.”

She said that compromises had to be made as part of the make-up of the last Dublin City Council, but said that the “biggest win” was getting 345 social homes and 340 cost rental homes delivered.

“If they don’t turn out to be affordable they won’t be left vacant, they will be brought up by Dublin City Council,” she said.