Garda stations to be repurposed as homes in Goleen and Adrigole.
CORK County Council invested €108,962,529 in its 2024 housing programme up to mid-December, and oversaw a record number of new building starts in January of this year.
The Council’s director of housing, Maurice Manning, said €87,251,469 was used to acquire turnkey developments – that were built specifically for the Council – as well as acquisitions, own builds, and social houses.
Part of the €108,962,529 was used to pay for new housing under the buy and renew scheme, repair and leasing, as well as maintenance works.
Part of the funding – which the Council claimed from the Dept of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in 2024 – was also spent on extensions to social housing units, affordable housing, vacant and derelict properties, energy efficiency and retrofitting, as well as private house grants throughout the county. Funding is also used to provide for housing assistance payments, otherwise known as HAP.
Among the new initiatives contained in this year’s housing report are plans to repurpose two former garda stations – one at Adrigole and one in Goleen – in 2025.
The conversion of the Adrigole garda station will create two new residential units, one of which will be a two -bed unit, the other a three-bed home. The project is currently going through a Part 8 planning process but construction is expected to start in the first quarter of this year.
The former garda station in Goleen will allow for the development of two two-bed residential units. It too is going through the Part 8 planning process but building is expected to start shortly.
In a breakdown of the number of houses that were built in recent years, Mr Manning said 417 units were projected and completed in 2024; 359 in 2023; 551 in 2022; 391 in 2021; 466 in 2020; 433 in 2019; and 295 in 2018.
Mr Manning said the Council’s building target for the county in 2025 is 683, and a further 697 in 2026.
Mr Manning described the spend of almost €109m as ‘a significant investment in the local economy in Cork county. It demonstrates the progress made by Cork County Council in meeting its commitments under the Government’s programme Housing for All.
In West Cork, the director said there are 95 housing units currently under construction, with 43 units at the preliminary stage. Eight units at the design stage, with 12 at site stage. Three more are at the tender stage and 25 are complete.
He said these are the builds being carried out on the Council’s own lands.
In addition to these builds are the turnkey housing units, which are to be developed for the local authority. They include 24 units at The Tannery in Bandon, as well as five at Reenrour East in Bantry, and 34 more in Bantry at Caherdaniel and four in Skibbereen.
There are 12 houses on site in Ballydehob, plus 21 houses at Old Barrack Road Bantry going through the planning process and eight in Durrus, which are at design stage.
New houses were delivered in Bantry, Kinsale Clonakilty, Rossmore, Skibbereen, and Bandon.
Mr Manning said work is underway at Caherdaniel that it will consist of a mix of one, two, three and four-bed units. These will be delivered in multiple phases, with the first phase already substantially complete.
Meanwhile, phase two of an affordable housing development at Beechgrove in Clonakilty will result in 31 new units, plus 112 at Commogue in Kinsale, and 60 at Kilnagleary in Carrigaline.
Mr Manning said design consultants have been appointed for the Clonakilty and Kinsale developments, and affordable housing funding has been approved by the Dept of Housing for all three.
Under the Council’s buy and renew scheme, Mr Manning said 116 properties are being ‘pursued’ with 64 more acquisitions having been completed.
Under the capital assistance scheme, the director said six houses are under construction at St Michael’s in Bandon for the benefit of Bandon’s Geriatric and Community Council.
Under the capital assistance scheme, a further 12 turnkey units at Ardmanagh in Schull were delivered in 2024, while six acquired units at Seskin in Bantry are to benefit CoAction West Cork.
Throughout the county, Mr Manning said there are 1,064 leased units. The leasing scheme includes properties used by the local authority, as well as housing provided by approved housing bodies.
The director confirmed that of the Council’s total 2,038 housing units in West Cork, 24 are vacant. Of these 24, however, seven are already under repair, 11 are about to go to tender, and six are under offer to tenants.
Last year, Mr Manning said 203 local authority properties were included in the 2024 retrofit programme as part of a €7.34m scheme for the county.
The director of housing also informed the councillors that the average amount of a local authority home loan in West Cork was €162,907. In West Cork, he said 18 applications were made for the loans and 11 were approved – two of which have already been processed.
Mr Manning reported that 3,116 private rented inspections were carried out in 2024 under the housing standards regulations, which has a bearing on the payment of HAP.
In relation to choice based letting (CBL), Mr Manning said 932 properties were advertised in West Cork as part of the Council’s online system with just 49 refusals.
Speaking to The Southern Star, Mr Manning summarised the goals for the year ahead saying: ‘The priority for 2025 is the continuation of our social housing programme, which includes the properties we build, and the properties we provide in partnership with developers and approved housing bodies.
‘In the year ahead, we will also be putting more emphasis on the affordable housing scheme,’ he added. ‘This will be backed by government grants that are paid through the local authority. The scheme allows houses to be made available at a discounted rate to first-time buyers.’
As part of the affordable housing scheme, Mr Manning said the coast rental scheme will also offer a 25% discount from the market rent to qualifying applicants.
