Response development to supply 200 new paid rental and council housing in Sandyford – The Irish Times

Construction has begun on 200 social and rental flats in Sandyford in what will be one of the largest mixed housing developments to be built in South Dublin in years.

Housing association Respond is developing Lisieux Hall, a complex of 133 social housing and 67 rental apartments, with rents averaging 35% below current market prices.

The rental apartments include three studios with a monthly rent of €1,137.50, 28 one-bedroom apartments with a price of €1,312.50 per month, 31 two-bedroom apartments with €1,485 each and five three-bedroom apartments for rent too €1,485 per month 1,530.

In the cost-rent system, rents are based on the cost of building, managing and maintaining the dwellings rather than market prices. Tenants also have long-term security, leases with terms of several years are available. The program targets workers who earn too much to qualify for public housing but cannot afford to buy or rent on the open market. Households are currently allowed to have a maximum annual net income of 53,000 euros. However, it is understood that the government is considering raising this limit to between €75,000 and €80,000.

Respond’s affordable rental housing is key to addressing “the affordability and rental security challenges faced by many renters in the current market,” said Respond spokeswoman Niamh Randall.

“Pushing forward larger developments like Lisieux Hall allows us to provide large-scale, low-cost rental housing as efficiently and effectively as possible. We very much look forward to handing over the keys to the people and families who will live here and make it a community.”

Lisieux Hall would be the largest mixed-use residential development in Respond’s portfolio to date, she said.

“The focus of Respond’s €1.5 billion housing program is to increase the national housing stock. We are increasingly doing this with larger projects as we work to alleviate the massive nationwide need for social and rental housing and support the Government’s Housing for All strategy.”

The development is “ideally located close to amenities, public transport routes and local commercial hubs, and would provide secure housing for 200 families at affordable prices,” she said.

The apartments are to be delivered between the beginning of next year and 2025. The 133 council flats, once completed, will be allocated to people on the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council housing waiting list, while a lottery scheme for eligible cost-rent applicants is likely.