Nineteen homes available in new Offaly social housing scheme

NINETEEN new residential homes in Tullamore have been completed and will be available to people on the council housing waiting list.

The houses are located at Daingean Road, Tullamore, across from the Sacred Heart School and adjacent to Grand Canal Court.

They are due to be let in two phases. It is understood the first phase of 12 houses at the rear of Bruach na Canalach will accept applicants soon.

Those houses have been purchased by an approved housing body, Co-Operative Housing Ireland (CHI), which has also provided social-rented homes at Corran, Crinkle and MacRegol Cuirt, Birr.

According to the Property Price Register, the 12 houses were sold on July 24 last for €3,649,909.90.

The remaining seven houses are also being acquired by CHI and will be let.

A spokesperson for CHI said: “These much-needed homes to families on Offaly’s social housing waiting list, were delivered in partnership with Offaly County Council, the Department of Housing, the Housing Agency and the Housing Finance Agency. The families will become members of the Connacht Housing Co-operative where they can have a voice and role in their wider community.”

Bruach na Canalach backs onto the Grand Canal and received the go-ahead from An Bord Pleanala in 2018.

The development had initially been turned down by Offaly County Council. The council planners expressed concern about house design, the lack of chimney features and gable elevations.

The developer said there were no chimneys because the houses were designed to be heated by a heat pump or geothermal system.

In a report at the time, the An Bord Pleanala inspector stated: “I do not consider the absence of chimneys to be a material issue to warrant a refusal of the permission. With changes in domestic heating systems and fuels, urban housing using natural gas, electrical heating or in particular heat pump systems do not require chimneys. The absence of chimneys is a modern-day design feature of urban and suburban housing.”

CHI was founded in 1973 and describes itself as a leader in social housing provision driven by co-operative principles.

It said it is providing more than 5,500 high quality homes to lower-income households. CHI currently operates in 22 counties in partnership with 29 local authorities providing homes for close to 16,000 people.

As a representative body, CHI says it champions co-operative principles in delivering homes and supporting communities.

It works closely with various stakeholders in the housing sector, including local authorities, Government, and developers, to provide high quality social-rented homes across the country to lower-income households.

It has also supported owner-occupier housing co-operatives to additionally deliver 3,000 affordable homes in Ireland.

CHI says its mission is to lead the development of social, economic, and environmental sustainability in Ireland through cooperative effort and the provision of co-operative housing.

It has been increasing its output year-on-year, with up to 700 houses and apartments being provided annually.

A spokesperson for Offaly County Council said: “It is proposed that all 19 new units in Bruach na Canalach are to be acquired by an Approved Housing Body on their completion.

“All tenant nominations to the Approved Housing Body will come from Offaly County Council’s social housing waiting list.”