Louth County Council’s innovative housing scheme

This week, as concern about increasing homelessness topped the news agenda, Louth County Council quietly launched a new housing scheme in Blackrock, just outside Dundalk, that will address at least some of the local demand for affordable homes.

The Gort na Mara estate, which was built by local developer Colin Fee of Townparks Services in partnership with the local authority, comprises 90 new houses. Officially opened on Monday, what makes the development unique is that the council will be acquiring 70 of the new properties with 35 of these to be placed for sale under the State incremental purchase scheme and the other 35 to be leased to social housing applicants.

The remaining 20 houses are to be sold privately through local estate agent Keith Duffy of DNG Duffy. All of the properties come with an A3 energy rating and prices in the estate range from €110,000 for a two-bedroom apartment to €149,000 for a three-bedroom semi or townhouse. Crucially, prospective buyers won’t need to raise those kinds of funds in order to secure a home.

“With this scheme we’ve been trying to show that there’s more than one way to get a home,” says Duffy.

Comparisons can be drawn to schemes in the 1980s when people rented and bought from city and county councils.

Welcoming the launch, Cllr Declan Breathnach said: "There remains considerable demand for housing in or close to large urban centres like Dundalk and it is important that Louth County Council continues to innovate in how we deliver social and affordable housing."

It’s good to see an initiative successfully under way when so much commentary these days is embroiled in supply and demand issues while workable solutions remain thin on the ground.