by Rose Rushe
COUNTY Limerick private housing estates left unfinished, and often unsafe, will benefit by €254,749 out of a Government fund of €10million, Minister for Housing and Planning Jan O’Sullivan confirmed to Limerick Post.
Private enterprise stakeholders will more than double this input for works in hand to make for total spend of €22m.
The names estates in Limerick are Glengrove and Bellview in Kilmallock, Newcastle West’s The Glebe and Ardmoyle in Carrigkerry. Bruachlán and Grianán estates built by the former Chieftain Construction company in Westbury village will benefit through monies allocated through Clare County Council, under whose wing Westbury lies.
The €10m Special Resolution Fund, as it is known, was set aside in October’s Budget 2014 and marks a line in progression in tackling 86 unfinished estates nationwide out of 1,258. They were identified in the Autumn Housing Development Survey and of these, almost a thousand were/are being lived in.
“This public investment has also leveraged an additional €12m from third parties -developers, lenders, bonds – which will be invested in these estates,” confirmed the Minister for State with responsibility for Housing and Planning. “It will make an immediate improvement in the lives of families currently living on unfinished estates.
“We estimate that there are more than 2,100 families living on the 86 estates earmarked for funding”.
Of the €12m secured from the private sector, €7m is from developer and funder investment and another €5m from bonds lodged.
Describing housing estates abandoned by developers due to firms going bust as an “eyesore”, Minister O’Sullivan made the point that “the additional spending is good news for jobs in the construction industry with a total capital investment this year of €22m in public and private funding.”
Progress is confirmed with a falling off by more than half since 2010 of such projects, according to figures issues by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.
