Five year wait fears for modular housing tenants

FAMILIES housed in the new temporary modular housing units confirmed for local sites last week could be left waiting five years or more for permanent homes, according to a local councillor.

Up to 100 of the first tranche of 153 factory-built prefab units have been designated for disadvantaged areas in Northside suburbs, and the first 22 of the modular homes could be two-storey units. 

The units are designed to be a temporary solution to provide homes for some of the 637 families currently in emergency homeless accommodation, including hotels and bed and breakfasts.

The first 153 homes are due to be delivered within four months, with 22 two-story units expected to be ready for occupancy by Christmas.

Forty homes are planned for the former old folks home site on St Helena’s Drive, 22 for Poppintree, Ballymun, and 38 in Darndale.

Dublin North West TD, Dessie Ellis (SF), told Northside People he had concerns about the sites at St Helena’s in Finglas and Poppintree.

“These units are costing over €100,000 and when you put in the services and everything needed to make them habitable, this will bring the price up to within the range of what you would normally pay for a house anyway,” he said.

Deputy Ellis believes the council hasn’t managed to procure enough sites for the homes, meaning more units than originally planned are being placed on sites like St Helena’s.

“That’s going against what everybody thought was needed to keep it manageable,” said Deputy Ellis.

“If this is designed for large families and you put in 40 units and fill them with people who’ve been made homeless for whatever reason, you have a huge amount of children getting squashed into a relatively small area. I think that could be very difficult to manage.”

Cabra-Finglas councillor David Costello (FF) expressed concerns that families could be left living in modular housing for years.

“Modular housing will deal with the homeless crisis in the short to medium term, but it won’t solve the housing crisis,” he said.

“We have 637 families living in hotels in the Dublin region. These families are desperate for security and housing.

“While I don’t agree with using these units long-term, we must be real; people may be in these units for five years plus.

“The housing list for a family unit in Dublin city is in excess of five years at present. The time families spend in these units will depend on Alan Kelly’s ability to deliver permanent housing. 

“The minister needs to stop thinking short-term [about elections] and start planning long-term housing in parallel with the short-term solution to house Dublin’s hotel families.”

Cllr Costello also called for playgrounds and childcare facilities to be put in place on larger sites.

“Sites selected are in the most disadvantaged parts of the city,” he added.

“Is this right? Maybe if demand is high in these areas, but I fear there will be no social mix.”

A second tranche of 350 modular units will be developed through a national framework overseen by the Office for Government Procurement.

The framework will also be available to local authorities to procure further modular housing for pressing accommodation needs.

This could include housing refugees under Ireland’s EU commitment to take in up to 4,000 migrants through resettlement and relocation programmes.