*Houses under construction in Shannon. Photograph: Joe Buckley
PROPERTY DEVELOPERS have less than a week to submit their expression of interest for the delivery of an affordable housing scheme in Shannon.
In May, Clare County Council received approval for the inclusion of both Ennis and Shannon for affordable housing. The county originally did not make the cut as the housing needs and demand assessment conducted by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage “did not meet their affordability constraint threshold”.
A detailed submission was then made to the Department by the County Council and approval in principle was granted to the local authority to submit detailed applications to the fund for specific developments.
Acting senior executive officer in the housing section of the County Council, Padraic Mac Cormaic outlined that an expressions of interest campaign will run until the end of July for “seeking proposals from developers to deliver affordable homes in Ennis and Shannon”.
Proposals from developers will be reviewed by the Council before their submission to the Department. “Any proposed development will require its own definitive scheme proposal and business case to be submitted to the Department,” he explained. “While each scheme will have its own unique set of circumstances and will be assessed on its own merits, schemes as they are designed and developed must continue to meet the criteria set out in the Affordable Housing Act 2021.
“Each definitive scheme proposal and associated business case must provide a structured framework whereby compliance with the standard statutory/regulatory criteria can be demonstrated to the Department in advance of the Stage 1 approval point when an indicative provisional financial allocation can be issued to the local authority concerned,” Mac Cormaic added.
Speaking at the July meeting of the Shannon Municipal District, Cllr Gerry Flynn (IND) who sought an update on the scheme’s progression, remarked, “A considerable number of people in Shannon are in need of housing and the construction of this scheme should have a positive impact on the community”.
Cllr Flynn who Chairs the Social Development SPC of the Council with responsibility for housing flagged, “I have always been shouting on for serviced sites in Shannon, there has been none since Clare County Council took over the running of the town from Shannon Development in 2004”.
Shannon based Flynn continued, “You cannot deal with housing for all cohorts and for all size of people in a one size fits all approach”. He welcomed the continued development on the first private housing scheme in Shannon in fifteen years which is located at the back of the Oakwood Hotel.
Part of the application includes “positive discrimination,” Flynn said and this includes a criteria that thirty percent of the property developed be retained for local residents. “The whole idea for putting an application in was to make housing available for those on lower to middle income,” he said.
Cathaoirleach of the Shannon MD, Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) seconded the proposal. “One of the common things said by all the managers of the companies in Shannon is that they are having issues getting houses for their staff in the locality. Housing is a big issue in Shannon and this will have a positive impact”.
A need to make affordable housing schemes more common across Clare was voiced by Cllr PJ Ryan (IND). “Affordable housing should be spread around the county in areas like Sixmilebridge, Cratloe, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Meelick and Parteen who also require affordable housing. It is something we need to push harder for, they got a lot of movement and brought Ennis and Shannon in”.
Prices continue to be a big issue, Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF) commented, “What was affordable ten or twenty years ago isn’t affordable now”. He continued, “Prices have gone up dramatically but the wages haven’t gone up at the same rate, the garda, nurse and teacher are now the ones looking for the affordable house”.
An affordable scheme is open to applicants across the country, Cllr Flynn informed the meeting, “it is available nationally you can’t restrict anybody applying, we were trying to bring some positive discrimination. We had to fight hard to get the designation for Ennis or Shannon. It didn’t qualify Clare for any affordable housing”.
In response, Cllr Ryan remarked, “I know 25 people in Meelick who would buy an affordable house if the facility was available for them to buy, that is solely in Meelick”. Cllr Flynn advised him the affordable housing scheme has a criteria where there must be a population in the region of 10,000.
