Limerick Council identifies seven housing sites for scheme

LIMERICK City and County Council has identified seven key sites to deliver affordable housing including cost-rental.

The Department of Housing is currently assessing the possibility of these and is expected to reply to the local authority in the coming months.

The news, in a written response from Aoife Duke, came following a council question from Labour’s Conor Sheehan at this month’s metropolitan district meeting.

A cost rental scheme is effectively affordable, high-quality rental accommodation provided by the state or local authorities. It’s called cost rental because the rent is used to cover the cost of constructing the accommodation over the life of a long-term building loan.

Cllr Sheehan believes such a scheme would work ideally at the former Guinness site in Upper Carey’s Road.

”We own that site and have been sitting on it for a number of years. It should be developed for public housing. In particular, it would be ideal for cost rental,” he said.

However, the City North member is concerned Limerick council may try and sell the site.

He pointed out previous attempts to sell council land in the city – the former Tait Clothing Factory was due to be sold the ESB for €3.5m in 2008.

However, following a council backlash from the old City Council this did not happen.

Now, the site is home to the city’s newest community in Tait Court.

At least 6,000 affordable homes are planned for the next two years nationally.