O’Devaney Gardens: Still no deal on cost-rental homes with building set to start

No agreement has yet been reached between Dublin City Council and developer Bartra on the provision of any cost-rental homes at O’Devaney Gardens, despite the imminent start of construction of more than 1,000 apartments on site.

Councillors in November 2019 voted in favour of a contentious deal to redevelop the former flat complex near the Phoenix Park, on the basis that 15 per cent of the overall scheme would be made available for cost-rental, where apartments would be rented to low- and middle-income workers at below market rates.

Under the terms of the deal, 30 per cent of the 1,047 O’Devaney Gardens homes have been be reserved for social housing and 20 per cent for affordable purchase; the remaining 50 per cent were available to Bartra to sell privately.

Bartra offered to sell 30 per cent of its allocation to the council or a nominated housing body for use for cost-rental. However, councillors were told on Wednesday an agreement on the purchase of the cost-rental apartments had not been completed.

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Site preparation works for the scheme, which includes a 14-storey apartment block, are getting under way this month ahead of the start of construction, which is scheduled to begin between July and September, councillors were told.

However, Martin Donlon, O‘Devaney Gardens project manager for the council, said he could not provide a breakdown of the number of cost-rental units in the scheme, because an agreement had yet to be reached.

“It’s still in negotiation and we are working through that. There was an earlier commitment of 30 per cent of the private units to be allocated to cost rental,” he said. “We are aiming for 30 per cent of the 50 per cent, but that is still in negotiation.”

Bartra did not respond to requests for comment on the issue.

An Bord Pleanála granted Bartra permission for the 1,047 homes last September with a condition that restricted potential sales to “individual purchasers”.

Bartra argued the viability of the project would be affected by the condition that meant corporate entities could not buy the properties. The company said it had asked An Bord Pleanála to correct what it claimed was an error in the planning permission but when this did not occur it initiated judicial review proceedings against the board’s decision.

The board in March amended its permission to “clarify and confirm” that the condition only applied to houses and duplex units, not apartments, in the development.

Almost all of the new homes at O’Devaney Gardens will be apartments, with just 43 houses and duplexes. However, all these houses and duplexes are already earmarked for use for social or affordable housing and will not be offered to the private market.

The regeneration of the complex was first proposed almost 20 years ago. In 2006 Dublin City Council finalised a public-private partnership scheme with developer Bernard McNamara to redevelop the estate with a mix of more than 800 social and private homes. But two years later, before construction had started, the deal collapsed.

The council began construction on 56 social homes at the site in 2018, which are due for completion in the coming months.