Demolition-regeneration programmes a thing of the past

More than 1,000 rundown Dublin council flats are to be redeveloped under a new “deep-retrofitting” programme to bring them up to modern standards.

Dublin City Council is to discontinue its policy of widespread demolition and reconstruction of its older flat complexes in favour of extensive renovation programmes which will see some smaller flats amalgamated to make larger homes.

Throughout the construction boom of the last decade the council pursued a housing regeneration policy which involved the demolition of estates and their redevelopment through public-private partnership deals with property developers.

Abandoned

However, while several estates were cleared of their tenants, the crash in 2008 resulted in their redevelopment being abandoned, and the communities which had developed over decades were dispersed to other parts of the city.

While the council has redeveloped some complexes using public money, such as the recently completed Thornton Heights on the site of St Michael's estate in Inchicore, others, including O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7, will not be redeveloped in the foreseeable future.

“We can’t afford wholesale demolition and rebuilding any more. And, as we have seen, that has the potential to destroy communities,” the council’s head of housing Dick Brady said.

“Instead we will undertake a deep retrofitting of around 1,000 flats to bring them to the same standards as any new-built unit.”

Dolphin House

An application for funding for the retrofitting programme, which is scheduled to last until 2020, has been made to the European Investment Bank. However, the policy is already in operation and will be used for the regeneration of Dolphin House next year.

On a smaller scale deep-retrofitting has already been used to regenerate a senior citizens’ complex at Ballygall Road East in Glasnevin, where 80 bedsits have been amalgamated to create 38 larger one-bedroom apartments, all of which are wheelchair accessible.

This was done at a cost of less than €4 million and without the need for demolition.