Respond supports Affordable Homes Partnership's call for State Intervention to guarantee low cost homes

Respond!, Ireland's largest social housing organisation, gives wholehearted support to the view held by the Affordable Homes Partnership that Local Authorities need to vary their development plans to include Affordable Homes.

Fr. Pat Cogan, Managing Director of Respond! said “While we have no specific knowledge of the two particular sites in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and South County Dublin, Respond! supports in principle the objective and methodology being proposed by the Affordable Homes Partnership whereby these two areas would provide more than 1,100 affordable homes in Dublin to benefit first time buyers. We agree with the Affordable Homes Partnership who advocate the creation of integrated estates.”

Respond! is currently working on an Area Action Plan for Kildare County Council in respect of lands in Naas. This is being carried out in conjunction with a private developer as we aim to deliver the maximum value of social and affordable homes to the local community. However, this is only one of many developments undertaken by the housing association to provide first time buyers with a real opportunity to purchase their own home. Currently, Respond! have houses available in Castlecomer, County Kilkenny at an estimated cost of €168,000 for a 3 bedroom semi-detached house. To date, Respond! have provided 292 affordable homes throughout Ireland at an average estimated cost of €130,000 for a 3 bedroom home with a further 233 under construction.

“We find the discount quoted by Des Geraghty of 50% to be thoroughly realisable and we support the call by the Affordable Homes Partnership for a more precise definition of Local Authority development plans in respect of affordable housing. We agree with the concept of increasing land value being shared between the community and the landowner,” added Fr. Cogan.

Respond! is Ireland's largest social housing organisation and manages 3500 units of accommodation across the country with a further 1500 under construction. All units within Respond! are of the highest quality, cost effective and are sustained by government and private support.

- ENDS -


For further information, please contact:
Aoife Walsh,
PR Officer, Respond!
Tel: 0818 357901 Mobile: 086 0595038