More than 5,200 families living in unfinished estates

More than 5,200 families are living in unfinished estates in Cork which are deemed problematic developments by the Government.

An analysis of the latest annual survey of unfinished housing developments shows a total of 134 housing projects in the county remain in various stages of construction — with many having little or no prospect of further building activity.

It is the single biggest number of incomplete developments of any county and represents 13.5% of all such estates nationwide.

However, the scale of the problem has eased slightly over the past 12 months, as the number of estates in Cork surveyed fell from 186 in 2013 to 158 last year.

A total of 24 developments in Cork were removed from the list of estates classified as problematic in 2014. They include several large developments incorporating hundreds of homes such as Old Quarter in Ballincollig and Forest Hill, Carrigaline.

The remaining 134 housing projects were meant to provide more than 11,740 new homes.

However, just 5,260 were recorded as occupied at the time of the survey, while a further 782 houses and apartments were complete but vacant.

A further 656 units were near completion, while around 800 were at various stages of development.

Planning permission had expired on 4,234 homes which are now unlikely to be ever built.

Ongoing construction work was recorded on only seven of the 134 developments, accounting for just 20 buildings classified as “near complete”.

The ghost estate on the Downeen Road, Rosscarbery, Co Cork. In the county, some 134 housing projects remain in various stages of  construction, with many having little or no prospect of further building activity. Picture: Dan Linehan

It means more than 630 homes throughout Cork which are almost habitable remain in a state of limbo with no immediate signs of any construction taking place to finish the development.

Nationally, the number of unfinished developments has fallen by around two-thirds from just under 3,000 in 2010, to 992 at the start of 2015.

Housing Minister Paudie Coffey has said that the Government will prioritise the resolving of issues in 766 of the remaining unfinished developments which already contain residents.

A total of 24 developments in Cork could be classified as “ghost estates” as they have no inhabitants.

However, 11 of these projects contain 61 vacant properties including Inis Orga in Enniskeane, which has 12 empty housing units.

The prospect is better for one similar development — The Tannery in Bandon — as it was announced last year it will be completed following an agreement between Nama and NABCO, the national co- operative housing provider. The deal will see 25 families taken off the housing list. They will benefit from the social housing initiative by becoming shareholding members of their local co-operative.

Around 20% of unfinished developments in Cork are belonging to Nama debtors.

The survey reveals that almost 1,150 families are living on estates with incomplete roads, while 35 households do not have proper footpaths in their development.

In addition, 224 families do not have proper street lighting outside their homes — a problem which affected all residents in the Carrig Rua estate in Ballinagree, The Beeches in Boherbue, and Chapel Court in Skibbereen.

Residents in around half of the unfinished estates in Cork are exempt from having to pay the Local Property Tax because of the poor condition of roads, footpaths, and street lighting.

The survey also highlights how Youghal has the biggest number of unfinished developments in Cork — a total of six estates which were meant to provide 434 housing units when launched.

Just 226 are occupied, while 22 are vacant and 59 are near completion.

None of the 33 families living in the Parklands estate in Youghal had proper roads at the time of the survey, while the same problem also affected all the residents of the Radharc na Mara estate in the east Cork town.

Mallow, Macroom, and Douglas each have five unfinished developments on the list, while Charleville, Carrigtwohill, and Cork City each have four.

The Department of the Environment’s housing survey of 2014 found that Cork County Council had the eighth highest vacancy rate of all local authority areas with almost six vacant units per 1,000 households.

It estimated that there were 815 vacant units across the county. A further 30 units were identified as a vacant within Cork City.