RESPOND! Housing has announced that it cannot continue to fund the Cuan Álainn homeless refuge for women and children fleeing domestic violence in Tallaght. Respond has bank-rolled the refuge in Tallaght for the past three and half years without any financial support from the State.

“We cannot continue to fully subvent this service, 100% from our own resources, without any State assistance due to the cost burden. We have come to the regrettable decision to close the service in an orderly manner before the end of the year” stated Ned Brennan, Chief Executive Officer with Respond Continue reading →

Respond Housing is delighted to have been approved by the Housing Finance Agency under European Investment Bank funding for energy upgrade works to 550 homes. The securing of this loan along with grant funding from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) will enable deep retrofit energy upgrade works to 550 homes, in various parts of the country, at an overall project cost of €7.88 million. The wide ranging upgrade works include installation of new gas & oil boilers, heat pumps, inset stoves, heating controls, new doors and windows, attic and wall insulation, CO alarms and CFL bulbs. Since 2012, Respond has undertaken energy upgrade works to 1,340 units at an overall project cost of € 12.6 million with a grant funding from SEAI of just under €6.2 million. Ned Brennan CEO with Respond acknowledged:

“Respond is pleased to announce that it is the first Approved Housing Body in Ireland to benefit from funding available through the European Investment Bank and the Housing Finance Agency for the retrofitting of existing social houses.  Respond is also very grateful for the support we receive from the SEAI. We expect this combined financial investment will greatly enhance our properties and reduce overall heating costs to our tenants”.  Continue reading →

RESPOND! was announced the worthy winner of the prestigious ICSH Community Housing Awards 2015 for “ Most Creative Supply Response” for the completion of the NAMA owned ‘ghost estate’ at Oakley Wood, Tullow, Co Carlow.

Oakley Wood is a development of family houses located in Tullow, Co. Carlow. The estate at Oakley Wood was the first unfinished estate controlled by the National Management Agency NAMA to be acquired for social housing. This project was also the first exclusively social housing NAMA project in the country to be taken on under the new private finance model of funding. It represented a unique collaboration between NAMA, Carlow County Council, the Department of Environment Community and Local Government and RESPOND!.  This development saw 55 unfinished houses completed for the benefit of families in need of housing in the Tullow area in 2014. The family estate is now supported by a community facility where RESPOND! work with residents developing programmes and supports for children, teenagers and adults. RESPOND! is delighted to have been in a position to provide long-term sustainable homes, through a new avenue (at the time) as an innovative solution to social housing shortages. Continue reading →