Cluid, the housing association that manages rented dwellings for people on low incomes, is the first voluntary organisation to be approved for borrowing by the Housing Finance Agency (HFA).
Cluid’s Director of Operations, Mr Neil Bolton, said that while there is a ready supply of vacant housing there are thousands of people on the social housing waiting lists so Cluid’s acquisition of the Beacon Quarter in Sandyford will help to address this dichotomy.
This is a new approach to social housing provision by the Department of Environment which minimises the need for exchequer support and Cluid are the first organisation to avail of the HFA’s services.
Mr Bolton explained that in pre recession times the government would have funded the 10 million euro necessary to buy the Sandyford housing but that’s no longer feasible and a loan of 75% has been approved in principle by the HFA and the remaining 25% funded from Cluid resources and the Capital Advance Leasing Facility. The recession has forced us to explore new ways to fund the delivery of new social housing. Public funds are extremely scarce while the demand for social housing continues to grow.
Willie Penrose TD Minister of State for Housing and Planning said “This is not just the delivery of a new housing project in a high quality landmark development by one of the country’s foremost approved housing bodies-we are also marking the first such project funded by the voluntary and co-operative sector using loan finance from the HFA.
Cluid’s Mr Bolton said “The housing in the Beacon Quarter was built to very high specifications and each unit would have cost in the region of 400,000 euro before the recession. The final batch of units will be rented in the autumn of this year and the people who qualify will be from low income groups and on the Dun-laoghaire social housing list. There will also be units available for private renters who will be paying rent at the going rate. At present there is no option to buy. There is a high demand for social housing in Dun Laoghaire/ Rathdown local authority area and there is a consistent demand from the private rental sector also.”
According to Mr Bolton, Beacon South Quarter has great infrastructure with strong transport links, as well as access to community facilities such as schools and parks. “This Sandyford project will offer high quality accommodation in a well serviced location to both private tenants and those on the housing lists and this is in keeping with the government’s ethos of developing mixed tenure communities that have the capacity to be socially and economically sustainable in the long term.”
Cluid currently manages 4,000 homes across the country. “Although we are a non-profit organisation, any surplus monies are spent on keeping the properties well maintained. We have housing officers who take care of the property management side of things,” explained Mr Bolton.
Minister Penrose said “Approved housing bodies like Cluid have made a massive contribution to social housing in Ireland, not just in providing thousands of homes, but also in developing expertise and promoting excellence. According to Penrose the government’s new housing policy statement launched last month clearly acknowledges the capacity and track record of the voluntary and cooperative housing sector. “Approved housing bodies will be at the heart of the government’s housing provision-not by default but by design.”
The original planning permission in Beacon Quarter South was for 1,016 apartments; 795 are now complete. The exceptions are block B2 138 residential units and Block B4 83 residential units. Mr Bolton explained “We are only interested in buying the completed units. We will be interested in buying similar schemes in the future but they would have to be situated in an area where people would want to live and this would rule out ghost housing estates in isolated areas.”
In Sandyford there are 58 apartments in the new Cluid project: 34 of these will be allocated to social housing and the remaining 24 will be rented through the private rental market. All the apartments were purchased through the receiver, appointed by NAMA at a total of 10.3 million euro, an average cost of 177,000 euro per unit.
Cluid’s Director of Operations, Mr Neil Bolton, said that while there is a ready supply of vacant housing there are thousands of people on the social housing waiting lists so Cluid’s acquisition of the Beacon Quarter in Sandyford will help to address this dichotomy.
This is a new approach to social housing provision by the Department of Environment which minimises the need for exchequer support and Cluid are the first organisation to avail of the HFA’s services.
Mr Bolton explained that in pre recession times the government would have funded the 10 million euro necessary to buy the Sandyford housing but that’s no longer feasible and a loan of 75% has been approved in principle by the HFA and the remaining 25% funded from Cluid resources and the Capital Advance Leasing Facility. The recession has forced us to explore new ways to fund the delivery of new social housing. Public funds are extremely scarce while the demand for social housing continues to grow.
Willie Penrose TD Minister of State for Housing and Planning said “This is not just the delivery of a new housing project in a high quality landmark development by one of the country’s foremost approved housing bodies-we are also marking the first such project funded by the voluntary and co-operative sector using loan finance from the HFA.
Cluid’s Mr Bolton said “The housing in the Beacon Quarter was built to very high specifications and each unit would have cost in the region of 400,000 euro before the recession. The final batch of units will be rented in the autumn of this year and the people who qualify will be from low income groups and on the Dun-laoghaire social housing list. There will also be units available for private renters who will be paying rent at the going rate. At present there is no option to buy. There is a high demand for social housing in Dun Laoghaire/ Rathdown local authority area and there is a consistent demand from the private rental sector also.”
According to Mr Bolton, Beacon South Quarter has great infrastructure with strong transport links, as well as access to community facilities such as schools and parks. “This Sandyford project will offer high quality accommodation in a well serviced location to both private tenants and those on the housing lists and this is in keeping with the government’s ethos of developing mixed tenure communities that have the capacity to be socially and economically sustainable in the long term.”
Cluid currently manages 4,000 homes across the country. “Although we are a non-profit organisation, any surplus monies are spent on keeping the properties well maintained. We have housing officers who take care of the property management side of things,” explained Mr Bolton.
Minister Penrose said “Approved housing bodies like Cluid have made a massive contribution to social housing in Ireland, not just in providing thousands of homes, but also in developing expertise and promoting excellence. According to Penrose the government’s new housing policy statement launched last month clearly acknowledges the capacity and track record of the voluntary and cooperative housing sector. “Approved housing bodies will be at the heart of the government’s housing provision-not by default but by design.”
The original planning permission in Beacon Quarter South was for 1,016 apartments; 795 are now complete. The exceptions are block B2 138 residential units and Block B4 83 residential units. Mr Bolton explained “We are only interested in buying the completed units. We will be interested in buying similar schemes in the future but they would have to be situated in an area where people would want to live and this would rule out ghost housing estates in isolated areas.”
In Sandyford there are 58 apartments in the new Cluid project: 34 of these will be allocated to social housing and the remaining 24 will be rented through the private rental market. All the apartments were purchased through the receiver, appointed by NAMA at a total of 10.3 million euro, an average cost of 177,000 euro per unit.
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