New €40m cost-rental, modular housing scheme announced for Galway city

A pioneering new €40 million social and affordable housing development earmarked for Galway city, which will be constructed using modern methods of construction (MMC), has been announced by approved housing body Tuath Housing.

The Clai Mór scheme, which is to be located on Monivea Road, will comprise 102 homes, including 28 cost-rental units, which will be rented to qualifying tenants at sub-market rates.

Under the Government’s cost-rental tenure model, rents must be at least 25 per cent below market values.

Tuath Housing said the scheme, which is being undertaken in collaboration with Galway City Council, the Housing Finance Agency (HFA), the Housing Agency and the Department of Housing would, take about 18 months to complete and cost €40.2 million. Initial phases of development would come on stream earlier, however.

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Apart from the 28 cost-rental units, the development will include 41 general needs social housing units and a further 33 units with additional supports.

Significantly the scheme will also be constructed through MMC, utilising a prefabricated steel modular system designed and manufactured off-site.

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MMC is an umbrella term for a range of new and innovative construction techniques but generally refers to construction that takes place in a factory setting rather than on-site. The Government has been urged to spearhead the use of MMC through its social housing programme. Homes constructed using MMC are typically produced “more quickly and more sustainably”.

“This is a very exciting day for Galway, breaking ground on the city’s first affordable cost-rental homes,” Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien said.

“Cost rental is a new form of tenure in Ireland and it is key to addressing the affordability and security challenges faced by renters. The homes we’re delivering are at rates which are a minimum 25 per cent below local market rates and are long-term secure rentals,” he said.

Galway city mayor Eddie Hoare said: “This is a very positive development that will provide a further supply of social homes in Galway city.

A recent study by economic and social think tank Tasc and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) said standardised and prefabricated MMC technologies could play a big role in solving Ireland’s housing crisis as well as meeting the State’s climate objectives as they produced homes “more quickly and more sustainably”.

Tuath, the State’s largest approved housing body, has already delivered 370 cost-rental homes, with an additional 1,500 homes in the pipeline. Tuath Housing manages more than 12,600 homes nationwide, accommodating more than 30,000 people. It currently manages 275 homes in Galway.

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