[Article] IHBA: State land should ease housing demand

Victor

http://www.irishexaminer.com/pport/web/business/Full_Story/did-sg-S7QGIPGIKosgDQQ5wn3uAIg.asp

IHBA: State land should ease housing demand
27/12/03
By Ian Guider

SURPLUS State land and idle back gardens should be used to tackle the housing shortage in Dublin, the Irish Home Builders Association (IHBA) says.

To prevent the boundaries of Dublin spreading further into Leinster it wants surplus land owned by the State and the hundreds of acres of idle land in back gardens and laneways to be used to meet the demand for council housing.

“The time has come for a new planning initiative. Much of this land should be opened for well-planned developments. Higher densities of population lead to more efficient use of resources, particularly public services and utilities,” the IHBA said.

It said the current policy of the American model of lower density suburban sprawl is stretching Dublin to unacceptable limits.

“Our policymakers and our planners, our architects and designers, together with ourselves the builders, need to plan for future housing needs in a more thoughtful, coherent way.”

Demand for houses in Dublin is running at 15,000 to 20,000 a year, but only 10,000 homes are being supplied and the shortage is exacerbated by the difficulty in finding zoned land in the city.

The IHBA said there needs to be an innovate approach to develop affordable housing easing the supply shortage, such as using Government and local authority-owned properties.

“Does it make sense for the Army to have a barracks in Rathmines [south Dublin] covering 40 acres? Should they not move to the Curragh and open up that land for a mixed development scheme?

The planned release of such lands onto the development market would facilitate a supply of zoned and serviced land for social and affordable housing and provide housing to some of the 20,000 families on the list for local authority housing in the Dublin area.”

The lobby group said that if each local authority bundled together three hectares of land, 10,000 social and affordable housing could be produced. It pointed to the success of existing projects where three-bedroom houses are now being sold for €130,000 - €70,000 less than the national average price.

Victor

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2003/12/28/story127296.html

Govt releases land for housing
28/12/2003 - 5:58:57 pm

The Government has announced that it will release land in Dublin, Cork and Waterford for affordable housing.

The land could provide sites for as many as 3,600 houses.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern says the initiative will help first time buyers on low to middle incomes to buy homes.

State-owned lands at Harcourt Terrace, Portrance and St Bricin’s Hospital in Dublin are among the sites released.

Local authority land in the South Dublin County Council, Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council areas will also be used.

In Cork city, properties on the Model Farm Road and the Youghal Road have been identified along with lands in Clonakilty.

Waterford city Council is to provide land for approximately 100 housing units.

“The Government is honouring its commitment in Sustaining Progress to deliver affordable housing.

"We will ensure that the projects are developed in a sustainable manner," said the Taoiseach.

sceptre

idle back gardens

Heh.

Given that the first article is obviously culled completely from a press release they could have worked on the wording a bit.