€323,950 price tag for Cork City Council's affordable houses
60% of the 3-bed houses currently selling in Cork on the private market are cheaper than the top price tag for the council's affordable housing scheme.
Three bedroom homes in Cork City Council’s soon-to-be launched “affordable housing” scheme are going to range in price from €285,000 to €323,950, Cork city councillors have been told.
Six Affordable Housing scheme locations are currently being developed within the city bounds with a view to easing pressure on families who are not eligible for social housing but not high-earning enough to get a mortgage from a bank or other lender.
However, some councillors have queried how affordable the price tag will be.
“Currently the market rates are €280,000 to €320,000, and the key to an affordable housing scheme is that it is affordable,” Cllr Eolan Ryng said at this week’s council meeting.
He pointed out that an equivalent scheme in South County Dublin, where land values are typically higher that Cork, had prices ranging from €245,600 to €285,300.
Sites at Boherboy Road, Tower, Bishopstown and Montenotte amongst others are expected to bring 253 housing units into the affordable scheme in line with the Affordable Housing Act 2021. Councillors were first told the price of the homes at a presentation on the scheme in May.
60% on Daft cheaper than “affordable”
Just under 60% of the three bed properties advertised for sale on the private market at the time of going to print were cheaper than €323,950.
138 of 232, or 59.5%, of three bed homes in Cork City on Daft.ie today were priced under €323,950, while 40% of three bed homes on Daft were cheaper than the minimum price of €285,000 on the council’s affordable scheme.
“There are concerns about the affordability of the scheme,” Cllr Mick Nugent said, as he proposed that “new criteria to consider the affordability using the basis of medium incomes in Cork” should be introduced and that the Minister for Housing be contacted with these with a request to “reduce the proposed market value.”
The price of the affordable housing units would vary based on numerous factors, Director of Housing Niall Ó Donnabháin said: “The cost of the delivery of the units is what’s driving the affordability, and will differ accordingly.”
Server crash fears
Meanwhile, some councillors expressed concerns about the “first-come, first-served” online system which is being put in place to allocate the affordable housing scheme when it comes onstream in the coming months.
Under the priority scheme being developed, 70% of the Affordable Scheme houses will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis with just 30% allocated on the basis of a lottery system.
“If you liken it to getting tickets from ticket master, people might be working at the time when the affordable housing scheme goes online,” Cllr Oliver Moran said. “You are disadvantaging people and putting a lot of pressure on them.
Cllr Moran recommended that the system’s operation be monitored and a report compiled for council on the experiences of people applying on it.
Meanwhile, Cllr Fiona Ryan expressed the concern that the demand for the houses would be so high that too many hopeful applicants all trying to access the website at once could cause a server crash.
“I’m somewhat scared that if everyone is all at their laptops at nine am, all ready to go, that we could have a collapse and that’s a real danger and something we have to make sure doesn’t happen on the day,” she said.
FFS they should stop all the fudging and make housing a real priority and show a real commitment to serving the people of this country well - show some courage, break out of the old molds and models and radically address the issue - it goes without saying that housing is a basic human need, and follows on that rents and mortgages should be brought in line to be fair - in whose interest is it to keep people in bondage to property....(or homeless)? Politicians and landlords repeating the repression of colonial rule against their own - it disgusts me.