Legal proceedings launched over stalled social housing development in Wicklow
The Wicklow PeopleHousing Minister James Browne has confirmed that legal proceedings in relation to a cancelled social housing programme in west Wicklow have been initiated by way of judicial review against the Department of Housing.
Mr Browne said legal documents have been received by the department in relation to legal proceedings over the Social Housing Public Private Partnership (PPP) Bundle 3 project.
The project involved the delivery of around 486 social homes across six sites in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Sligo, with 106 of those sites earmarked for a site in Blessington.
However, the Department of Housing decided not to proceed with the homes due to value for money concerns.
The social housing PPP programme was announced in 2014 aiming to deliver around 1,500 units in three phases (Bundles 1 –3) with 25-year maintenance and tenancy management commitments before transferring to local authorities.
In 2021, the Housing for All plan extended the initiative, identifying Bundles 4 –7 to deliver approximately 2,850 additional units.
Bundles 1 and 2 were completed in 2021 and delivered 999 new social homes across eight counties.
Minister Browne has asked his Department to initiate, with the help of the NDFA, a review of PPP Bundles 4 to 7 to consider potential options and determine the optimal procurement and delivery strategy for the Exchequer.
All six sites have full planning permission, and the department is “determined” to deliver the homes “quickly” under a new procurement and delivery strategy, but it still remains unclear when the homes will now be delivered.
Figures from October 2024 show there were more than 4,000 people on the social housing list, which Cllr Gerry O’Neill raised during the October monthly meeting of Wicklow County Council.
“People on the housing list, whether they are local people or people in temporary accommodation, have a stay of three years, so it's crazy. Mícheál Martin tackled the CEOs there only a couple of weeks ago, including our own CEO here in talking about the rezoning of land to stop building.
“A week before that his own minister shelled 106 houses in the Blessington area. So, we are in dire straits with housing. I'd like to get some announcement soon that those houses will start construction. I mean the site in Burgage where they are building 106 houses, the works had started on them and the minister put a stop to it.
“It is a little bit cheap of Mícheál Martin, that's if he's around much longer, to take on CEOs in the county.” he added.