A LOCAL authority was praised yesterday for brokering a multi-million euro deal to construct one of the country’s largest ever affordable housing schemes.

The Government is to provide more than €9m to build sheltered accommodation for elderly people in Dublin, Minister Noel Ahern said today.

UP to 350 architects, planners, engineers, developers, builders and state and local authority representatives will attend National Housing Conference 2005.

BANK of Ireland Mortgages announced yesterday it has become the first private sector institution to enter the affordable housing market.

One in five Traveller families are without proper accommodation five years after the launch of a dedicated housing programme, it was claimed today.

An estimated 75,000 tenancy registrations have been filed under new landlord and tenant legislation.

The Government is spending €25m on the first phase of a revamp for a Cork city housing estate.

Two of Ballymun's tower blocks could be demolished before the summer is out.

THE Government’s plan to cap the value of development land will not result in a reduction in house prices, it was claimed yesterday.

PLANNERS have learned from the mistakes of the past when designing social housing, said Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal, Noel Ahern.

FOLLOWING the publication of Focus Ireland’s Annual Report 2002 last week, the Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal, Noel Ahern, said Focus had misled people suggesting “5,000 people were sleeping rough” and he added that “temporary accommodation is in place for those who require it”.

By Tommy Barker