Affordable Housing Schemes have come in for criticism after it emerged that a Co Wicklow family are selling their home, developed with the aid of a council-subsidised site, for a potential profit in the order of £200,000.
The family, who are offering the three-bedroom detached bungalow in Enniskerry for sale for £270,000, paid Wicklow County Council £12,000 for the quarteracre site in 1997. The house at number 7, Berryfield Court, was built for £46,000.
The house was one of 15 developed by private owners with the assistance of Wicklow County Council which provided the land at less than market value. The initiative, supported by the Department of the Environment, was aimed at reducing council housing lists.
Since it came to the market through estate agents in Bray, the sale has provoked a storm of protest from local politicians. Wicklow County Council has confirmed that since Berryfield was developed, the rules on the sale of subsidised housing have changed to include a "claw-back" element.
The chairman of Wicklow County Council, Mr George Jones (FG), said the situation "seems, on the face of it to defeat the purpose. The people are perfectly entitled to sell their house and I am fairly sure that this is not the first time this has happened. Beechbrook Estate in Greystones was developed in this way. But I think that this sale defeats the spirit of the private sites scheme."
The secretary of Wicklow County Council, Mr Bryan Doyle, confirmed that since Berryfield was developed the county council had changed the rules to allow it to share in windfall profits on a sliding scale. He also defended the council's role in the affair, saying that private sites developed in the vicinity of the council's own housing projects "help to create a social mix".
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