LIMERICK City and County Council has launched a new programme that has the potential to kick-start inactive planning permissions to deliver up to 1,000 new homes.
The Turnkey programme will be open to all small builders and developers who have sites with full planning permission that have yet to be activated, typically due to unavailability of finance.
The programme, launched today by Deputy Mayor of the City and County of Limerick Cllr Adam Teskey, will see the local authority sign contracts for the purchase of new homes, with the price including a ‘builder’s profit’.
With the contract guaranteeing the viability of the project, Turnkey schemes will enable small builders and developers to secure finance, potentially triggering the development of a large number of sites across the city and county that are otherwise in a logjam.
Currently some 3,500 units have planning permissions but only 11% have been developed, with some of the permissions dating back as far as 10 years.
Launching the project, Deputy Mayor of the City and County of Limerick Cllr Adam Teskey said: “Housing is one of the great issues we face in Ireland today. In Limerick, we have 2,432 applications on our housing list and we are looking at a number of ways of fast-tracking the delivery of homes and the Turnkey campaign we are launching today is just one of them.”
“We have one of the country’s most progressive local authorities here in Limerick and this is further evidence of that. The Turnkey campaign is an innovative solution to housing delivery. We conservatively estimate, even with modest take up from small builders or developers, we will see up to 1,000 additional new homes come on stream in the coming years.”
“Together with the local authority’s ongoing ‘build, buy and lease’ programmes, the local authority’s vacant properties programme in our towns and villages and the Part 5 requirement on all developments to have a minimum 10% social housing mix, we are making very significant inroads in terms of housing delivery in Limerick.”
Director of Housing Development with Limerick City and County Council Aoife Duke says the Turnkey programme is all about getting live planning permissions that have stalled, particularly due to financial issues, up and running.
“Some of these permissions are in place a number of years but, because the small builder or developer does not have access to finance, they have not been progressed. We are asking small builders and developers with a live planning permission for housing to come and speak to us. No site is too small.”
The process is simple. The small builder or developer contacts the local authority on a special phone line – 061 557344 – and if the site is suitable, a cost can be agreed for acquisition and the units are paid for on completion.
