Builders ‘trying to dodge social housing obligations’

CORK County Council officials are to prepare a report on the number of building projects which feature social and affordable houses, amid fears that developers are trying to dodge their obligations.

Under a 2003 act, developers building more than four homes must earmark 20% of them for social and affordable housing.

Cllr Tim Lombard, who raised the issue with council officials, was told that under the so-called Part V agreement to ‘set aside’ houses for the less well off, a number of developers had already come up trumps.

In the Southern Division region, for example, 335 are so far proposed as set aside.

The largest of these projects, being developed by Astra Construction in Carrigaline, is for 503 homes. Out of that 106 are to be set aside. Seventy-nine are earmarked as affordable homes and 27 as social housing.

The councillor said that while he was pleased with the report it only referred to the “quarter ending on March 31, 2006”.

But he said the projected dates for completion show that only 70 houses from all developments in the region will be transferred this year to the local authority, which will seek tenants under affordable or social housing projects.

“The report asks more questions than it answers. The real question is how many builders are not in Part V agreements with the county council, and what is the projected number of Part V houses to come on stream?” Cllr Lombard said.

“My main concern is that a lot of builders have been trying to dodge their obligations under the act. So I have called for a full report dating back to all planning permissions granted since the act came into force in 2003,” he added.

He estimates that in Co Cork thousands of new homes should be coming on stream in the next couple of years which will be earmarked for sale to people on lower incomes.

Council officials have agreed to trawl through their records and furnish him a comprehensive report within the next month.