The Department of Housing has asked Dublin City Council (DCC) to ensure that regeneration plans for the flat complex at Glovers Court are “viable” and represent “good value for money”, residents have been told.
Under current proposals, the complex’s 38 flats, located on York Street, Dublin 2, will be turned into 53 new homes. There will be a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units.
Glovers Court was built in 1976 off Aungier Street, close to the back of St Stephen’s Green shopping centre.
In a letter to residents in recent days, seen by The Irish Times, the council said it had submitted a stage-two funding and project approval submission to the department last October with “regular communication” in relation to it since then.
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“While they [the department] are happy with the proposals for the new Glovers Court, they have additional queries on the costs and asked that we review these to ensure that the project is viable and represents good value for money,” the letter said.
“Our project team have been working on a revised submission to respond to the queries, and we are due to update our submission proposals in the coming weeks.”
The local authority said that subject to approval of its revised stage two-submission, it will proceed with lodging its planning application later this year.
The department said it raised “a number of concerns” to DCC regarding the overall design strategy from a “value-for-money perspective” and highlighted the need for a full structural assessment.
It is expected that a revised funding application will be submitted by the council to the department in July, it said.
“The department welcomes the work being completed by Dublin City Council on their regeneration projects and continues to work closely with the council to progress these schemes,” a department spokesman said.
The correspondence comes as the department rejected the first phase of the council’s long-planned redevelopment of Pearse House, off Pearse Street in the city centre, in recent months.
Council officials had submitted plans to amalgamate 78 flats into 44 new units. The department said at the time it was “not in a position to support proposals that would result in a significant loss of homes”.
The council announced seven years ago plans to regenerate more than 6,000 of the city’s oldest and most dilapidated flats under a 15-year plan to raise social housing standards across the city.
More than 100 flat complexes were to be included in the programme, all of which were more than 40 years old. Some date back to the 1930s.
Most of the 109 complexes did not meet current building standards regarding accessibility, fire safety and building quality, while a significant number had mould, condensation and sewage problems.
The present proposal for Glovers Court is to retain the existing housing blocks and redesign them to provide for “new, larger, warmer and energy-efficient homes”.
The plans include placing an additional block at the York Street side and adding an additional floor on the Mercer Street side of the building.
City councillor Mannix Flynn said he would have preferred if the complex was completely demolished and rebuilt.
The Independent politician described conditions in the flats as “appalling”, saying residents were “often actively spending most of their time out of the place”.
