Dublin City Council has refused planning permission to convert an office building into a short-term let hostel for international protection (IP) applicants in Dublin 2.
Peachport Ltd has earned millions in profits from State contracts providing emergency accommodation for international protection applicants and Ukrainians. In February it lodged plans for a change of use of an existing four-storey-over-basement building at Adelaide House on Adelaide Road in Dublin 2 from office use to short-term let hostel accommodation.
The firm was also seeking planning retention for material alterations already made to the building.
The council refused planning permission on a number of grounds. It ruled the proposed internal configuration to facilitate 24 bedrooms, which would include a total of 116 beds, “would constitute gross overdevelopment of this site and considerably detract from the amenities of existing and adjoining properties”.
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It also refused permission as the proposed use of the structure “results in a poorly configured layout with insufficient facilities for the number of bedspaces proposed”.
“The layout appears congested, providing poor levels of daylight and ventilation, in particular at basement level, resulting in an extremely poor level of residential amenity for future occupiers,” it said.
The planning authority also refused permission after concluding the applicant had not sufficiently demonstrated that the proposed development would not result in an over-concentration of similar uses within the vicinity and be consistent with the zoning objective of the subject site.
The planner’s report, which recommended a refusal, noted the submitted documentation lodged with the application was “extremely poor in clarity of proposed and retained development”.
The most recent accounts for Peachport Ltd show that the firm’s post-tax profits of €2.8 million for the 12 months to the end of February 2025 follow post-tax profits of €5.69 million for the previous year.
Peachport’s work in providing emergency accommodation for a number of years for the State has resulted in it having accumulated profits of €11.7 million at the end of February 2025, while its cash funds totalled €8.55 million.
Local residents William Phelan and Haiyan Wang of nearby Harcourt Terrace called on the council to refuse permission for “the proposed very high-density accommodation at this location”.
Another Harcourt Terrace resident, Pat Whyte, told the council: “I am deeply concerned about the scale and nature of this proposed hostel development.”
