Social housing apartments in Rathfarnham left vacant for a year
Councillors in south Dublin have questioned why a block of completed social housing units in Rathfarnham were left vacant for close to a year.
Responding to requests for an update on why Loreto Gate apartments on Grange Road were left vacant, South Dublin County Council (SDCC) management said the “delay was extraordinary”.
They confirmed a handover process will begin over the next few weeks and that an Approved Housing Body (AHB) has now secured approval from the Department of Housing to acquire the units.
Justin Sinnott, Social Democrats Councillor for Rathfarnham-Templeogue-Greenhills, said the gap between completing the work and handing over the homes to people had been “too long”.
“Seeing those units being vacant for 12 months now has been difficult to see,” he said.
“On the one hand, local authorities are under a lot of pressure about what we can deliver and what we can do. In this case, the thing is we did deliver.
“But the gap between completing the work and handing over the keys to the people who needed these units went on for too long.”
He commended the council’s work and report on the approval process, adding: “I just wanted to put this frustration out there – it reflects very bad on us as a local authority. It’s important that it’s done in a faster way.”
Fianna Fáil councillor Yvonne Collins enquired how long the allocation process will take following the approval.
“How soon after the approval will the allocation process take place – given that it is now September, I hope that it will be soon,” she said.
“I’m delighted to see that those apartments are going to be moved into. It was terrible to see it vacant on a number of levels.
“First and foremost, on a human level, to see people who needed homes and that these were built and available for them, but just allowed to be left vacant for nearly a year with no sign of anything happening.
“Apartments and homes need to be built on time. If not, you end up spending public funds – it can lead to maintenance bills and repair bills with no real return for it.”
SDCC Mayor and Labour councillor Pamela Kearns said it was the Department of Housing that had to answer for the delays.
“These homes have been completed for a long time. I called on a number of occasions and the answer was that it was with the Department,” she said.
“The council needs to apply pressure on the Department – as elected representatives, we need to put pressure on them.
“We’ve done our job, the houses are built and there and ready to go. These are not answers we need from the council, it’s from the department.”
An SDCC manager said their allocations section will work closely with the AHB to ensure the process is speedy.
“The delay was extraordinary, it’s not normally this long. Normally, the application sits between the AHB and the department, while we offer support and information,” they said.
“There were clarifications sought that we provided on time. The department’s perspective is that they are obliged to carry out due diligence when approving applications.
“We will be mindful to make the allocation process fast and to do our best to ensure the houses are occupied as soon as possible.”