A LIMERICK man who made his mark with his family construction company in New York has set wheels in motion in his native city to solve the housing crisis and create new jobs into the bargain.
It’s more than 50 years since Michael Benn left Clare Street in Limerick for the US, but along with his son, Patrick, he was determined to do something to tackle the housing crisis in Ireland, starting in Limerick.
The company has set up shop at the Galvone industrial Estate where 50 people are already employed.
The Benn’s company, Clenn Construction, can raise a timber frame house in three weeks, a fraction of the time that a traditional build takes and the father and son team believe this will be key in meeting the growing demand for social housing.
“We employ 50 people and this will grow this to 200 when we are operating at full capacity. It can take 18 months to build a house using traditional methods but we can build a precision-engineered timber frame off site in just three weeks,” Michael Benn explained.
Officially opening the Clenn Construction show houses in Galvone last Friday, Mayor James Collins said that a year had passed since a delegation from the Council first met with Patrick and Michael to discuss the idea of opening a factory in Limerick where precision engineered timber frame homes could be built in a matter of weeks.
“Today, we see the reality.
“We have an ambitious target of building 3,000 social and affordable homes in Limerick by 2021. There are about 3,500 people on the housing waiting list, so you can see that it’s a difficult task to keep up with the demand,
“The availability of land, the cost of construction, and the speed of delivery are the three main issues we have to deal with. Michael and Patrick Benn are introducing a new way of building that can deliver houses in a matter of weeks and at a competitive cost. Around the world, it’s increasingly common for houses and apartments, and all kinds of buildings, to be constructed off-site. So we have to look at any cutting edge techniques that can help solve our housing crisis,” he said.
Referring to the Benn’s Irish roots, the Mayor added: “Michael Benn left here at 15, but Limerick never left him. He’s returned here today with an exciting new business, that’s aiming to supply social and private houses all over the country, employing Limerick people in his native city.
“Michael and Patrick have invested in Limerick, and are training people from the Regeneration areas and putting them on the road to full-time employment,” he added.
