It could have been the straw that broke the camel's back when, last week, word came through that the builders couldn't make a start because, although planning permission to build 10 houses had been granted, a separate application was needed to erect the hoarding round the site. Back to the drawing board.
For Ian Russell, spokesperson for a small 10-member co-operative which is building its own houses in Loughlinstown, south Co Dublin, it was only one more headache, and a minor one at that considering everything that had gone before.
Four years ago, he and a group of like-minded people approached Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council looking for help. To get on the housing waiting list at that time, a couple had to have a joint income in excess of £18,000. Some of the group were eligible for the housing list, others not.
With house prices soaring and all of Ian Russell's group first-time buyers on modest incomes, they were determined to find a way out of what, to many, seemed a hopeless situation. Their initiative was rewarded. The county council had a site already ear-marked for 60 houses and, after deliberation by the councillors and consultation with the co-op, came up with a proposal: for the nominal price of £100 per site, it would make available building land for 10 houses, some of which would fall into the category of "social housing" and some "affordable".
"That nominal figure was in line with government policy at the time which stated that sites could be made available for not less than £100," says the administrative officer in the county council's housing department, Breeta Allen, "but it's a figure that could not be sustained at today's land prices."
People were selected according to both their means and their needs. Apart from the £18,000 ceiling - a figure which has now risen to reflect current incomes - no one should have already had a mortgage. "What we wanted to do," explains Allen, "was to give a legup to those people in the group who had got themselves and their finances organised and, at the same time, provide houses for people on the waiting list who could never aspire to owning their own homes without assistance. This is in keeping with government policy which encourages programmes of social integration. And the beauty of the Loughlinstown scheme is that even before any building has begun, the group has been formed and got used to working together."
As spokesperson for the group, Ian Russell has found himself operating a virtual 24-hour helpline, answering queries, reassuring members of the group on matters personal and fiscal - and dealing with the paperwork, of which the hoarding problem was only a small hiccup. "I've had to deal with every department there is - planning, finances and housing, as well as the builders, the architect and the structural engineers." He now feels he knows all there is to know about such a scheme - down to the last hoarding.
At the end of it all, however, he and his partner Karen, together with nine other households, will have a three-bedroomed, semidetached house and garden, with built-in planning permission to add on a fourth bedroom, on a site which already has services laid on and which is - wait for it - only 10 minutes' walk from Killiney DART station. The secretary of the National Association of Building Co-operatives (NABCO), Bernard Thompson, is filled with admiration for the activities of the Loughlinstown group: "It's been a tough task for a small group to undertake and, because there's no blueprint, a lot of work had to be needlessly duplicated." He would like to see more land made available for similar housing schemes so that co-ops - including NABCO itself, which is also a co-operative letting agency - can plan more efficiently: "You can spend a year alone on simply getting planning permission."
Breeta Allen thinks that, having learned from the Loughlinstown experience, it should now be possible to see a similar scheme through within two years. The three years, however, have not been wasted time for the group, as it had a lot of things to get organised, raising funds being one of the most important. "The waiting period," says Allen, "also gives people a chance to save for their deposit. If they have that, then the amount to be borrowed is much more manageable."
Four years ago, the cost of building each house was estimated to be about £50,000, but continuing hikes in the cost of labour and material mean this is no longer a viable figure, and it will have to be renegotiated. One stipulation currently laid down by the council is that should anyone decide to sell within seven years of purchase, they will be required to repay £2,000 to the council for the provision of services which at the moment come with the package.
The advantages of a co-operative scheme are enormous for everyone. Their architect, Colin McCaffrey of the Belfast firm Tate Stevenson, has found the whole project smooth-running: "This is the first co-op we've worked with and we've found them a very focused group. We've never had to deal with more than two people. Even dealing with the county council has been uncomplicated. The main challenge has been to hone down people's needs so as to comply with the overall brief."
Although there will be individual, internal variations, the plan for each house is basically the same, much of it predetermined by the cost and the size of the site. "There have been a few disagreements within the group, mostly to do with minor things," says Allen, "but that has been for them to sort out. Our headache, with any similar scheme, is if someone puts themselves forward and then has difficulty meeting their financial commitments. Or worse, if someone drops out, leaving us to find someone quickly for one house. The worst headache, however, is that we're not doing enough of this sort of thing." Over the next four years, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council plans to build 900 houses as part of its social housing programme but is finding that land shortage is becoming a major problem. "Today, with this size of site, we would have to build duplexes. A house is really something of a luxury when land is a finite commodity," says Allen.
Thompson has strong views on the land issue: "What is needed is a more sustainable flow of building sites so that plans can be made in advance. If the local authorities have the responsibility to house people, then they must somehow find the land - by compulsory purchase, if necessary. The Loughlinstown scheme is a case in point. Here you have a co-op which is building houses but, 20 years ago, co-ops were building 70 houses at a time."
He also feels that our attitudes to rented accommodation are far too negative compared to continental Europe. But though Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council has no immediate plans to replicate the Loughlinstown project, it is looking at the lessons learned. For would-be home owners, the lesson has got to be: form yourselves into a group with people of shared aims and start saving for the deposit. Then make approaches to NABCO for advice and support. And one very important thing, adds Ian Russell: "Find yourselves a spokesperson. It will make things a lot easier."
