Councils apply for €600m from €50m development fund

Local authorities have sought €600 million in Government funding to help developers build homes on lands needing major infrastructural work. This is 12 times the amount of funding available next year.

More than 20 city and county councils have applied for the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund to provide large-scale transport, water and sewage schemes to service lands zoned for housing.

The Government has committed a total of €200 million, three quarters of which will be exchequer funding with local authorities taking on the remaining costs. The fund is designed to enable developers to build 20,000 homes on lands left unused because of a lack of essential services.

The Department of Housing last month sought applications from local authorities for the first €50 million of the fund, which will be released in 2017. By last month’s deadline it had received proposals for more than 70 infrastructure projects from 21 local authorities.

The cost of the projects amounts to €800 million, with €600 million sought in Government funding.

Three Dublin local authorities have made submissions which together exceed €200 million.

Large-scale development

Dublin City Council has identified more than €80 million needed to make six areas ready for large-scale development, with a potential for up to 10,000 homes.

Two areas need €25 million each to make their lands housing-ready – the Poolbeg peninsula at Dublin city’s southeast end and, slightly closer to the city, the docklands area. The Government earlier this year approved plans for 3,000 homes on the former Irish Glass Bottle site and surrounding lands on the peninsula, using fast-track planning.

Minister for Housing Simon Coveney has indicated that a new €25 million-€30 million bridge, to link the docklands with Poolbeg, is likely to come within the first tranche of the fund.

Other sites include Clongriffin at the north fringe of the city where €10 million is needed for roads, Cherry Orchard, which needs €9 million for water infrastructure; and the former Player Wills cigarette factory site in Dublin 8 which needs €8 million and Pelletstown which needs €4 million.

Fingal County Council is seeking just more than €36 million, with €13.125 million needed for roads and parks in Swords, €12.375 million for roads in Donabate, €5.2 million for infrastructure in Baldoyle and €7.35 million in Barnhill.

South Dublin County Council submitted the largest application with €86 million sought. Most of the money is needed to develop the new suburbs of Adamstown (€37 million) and Clonburris (€38 million).

Fine Gael councillor William Lavelle said less than 1,600 of more than 9,000 homes planned for Adamstown had been built. "If work does not proceed on certain roads and the first park then residential development at Adamstown will be halted."

Mr Coveney said his department was assessing the applications and looking for “ potential quick wins” which would be announced next month.

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has made an application but declined to provide details of the sums sought.