NABCO Invests In D4 Housing Units

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It was recently announced that an investment of €5.5 million is to be made for National Association of Building Co-operatives to develop 39 social housing units in Moss Street and Beech Hill in Donnybrook. The allocation is part of a package of funding outlined by Environment Minister Alan Kelly.

The project allows voluntary housing groups to deliver housing units quickly and efficiently. At the announcement, Kevin Humphreys, TD for Dublin Bay South, and Minister for Employment, Community and Social Support said, “The funding will go towards 19 new homes on Moss Street in the old flats building at the corner of Gloucester Street; and 20 homes in Beech Hill through the Royal Hospital Donnybrook. The Beech Hill homes will be built on the site of the old maisonettes.”

Kevin Humphreys, who has previously been involved in assisting the building of the Pump House beside Londonbridge Road, spoke to NewsFour about these plans and how he hopes they will be received.

“We’re hoping development will start as soon as possible because we know there is a housing crisis,” Humphreys said. “There’s been virtually nothing built over the last nine years of the recession. In the first instance we had to make sure there was a strong financial footing where we could borrow money or invest in housing, and this is the first sign in our area. I’m hopeful and full of expectation that this will be the first of many such housing announcements that we will see in the coming years to deal with the chronic shortage of social units in the Ringsend-Pearse Street area.”

The units in the terrace behind Beech Hill flats are to be turned into high quality social units, with Cllr Dermot Lacey playing a key role in uniting the forces of Dublin City Council, the Department of Environment and the Royal Hospital in Donnybrook.The units in question are planned for allocation to elderly people with the future objective being to free up larger units for families currently on housing lists.

Many of these detachments will not require planning permission and the emphasis will instead be shifted to refurbishment. Construction on Moss Street is still awaiting the green light but will get underway as soon as possible.

This is part of a wider network of projects which also includes the delivery of up to 150 new social housing units at Charlemont Street under regeneration plans that are to start soon. Nine new units on Maxwell Road, Rathmines have already been constructed.

“I am delighted to see this further progress in delivering on the Government’s social housing commitments, which will provide homes for people in Dublin Bay South,” Kevin Humphreys added. “There has been very positive feedback. People have been waiting for so long that the belief will start to come as the builders move on site.”

By Craig Kinsella