New homes soon for Offaly social housing applicants

THIRTY-one houses in Tullamore will soon become available to applicants on the Offaly County Council social housing waiting list.

The houses are located in a new residential scheme off the Arden Road where Clonaslee company Carroll O'Keeffe is the main contractor for the Whitebox Property Group.

The estate has been named Arden Crescent and will have 77 residential units in all.

The first phase of 31 units, Kingswood Drive, has been purchased by the approved housing body, Respond, which has teamed up with the County Council for the project.

The 31 houses were bought by Respond on December 12 last for €12,456,746, including VAT.

A spokesperson for Respond told the Tullamore Tribune that 21 of the houses are two-bedroom bungalows, six are two-bedroom, two-storey houses and four are three-bedroom two-storey homes.

“These homes will be safe, secure, lifetime homes for families who will be looking forward to building a community within their development and with the existing community. Respond will be there to support them to do this and develop links with the existing community in Tullamore also. As an Approved Housing Body and service provider, Respond have over 17, 000 tenants around the country with a tenant satisfaction rate of 89%,” the spokesperson said.

Respond said the remaining 46 homes in the 77-unit scheme will be acquired by Respond when they are completed.

According to Carroll O'Keeffe, the houses are built to the highest standards of energy efficiency and sustainability.

The overall Arden Crescent development also includes plans for a 90-bed nursing home and some of the houses are specifically designed for the requirements of elderly people and those with increased mobility needs.

Meanwhile, the Department of Housing said on Friday that the construction of new homes in Offaly increased by 9% in 2024 compared to 2023.

In 2024 there were commencement notices for 410 homes in Offaly. In 2023 there were 375.

The outgoing Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien said: “Strong figures on home starts in Offaly in 2024 confirm that a robust stock of new housing is in the pipeline. Government initiatives such as the development levy waiver and the Uisce Éireann rebate have had a positive impact in getting projects off the ground with the ultimate goal of increasing our housing supply to meet housing needs.”