10,000 homes needed in Cork to prevent crisis

Up to 10,000 homes need to be built in Co Cork in the next five years to stave off a likely housing crisis.

The county’s mayor, John Paul O’Shea, has appealed to the Government to invest in badly needed infrastructure in Cork after council planning staff outlined the need for thousands of new homes by 2020 to cater for projected population growth.

He said a Dublin Housing Supply Task Force had demonstrated the urgent need for new housing in the capital but insisted a similar demand also applied in Cork.

Cork County Council is seeking Government backing for critical new infrastructure proposals, including roads, water and transport which would unlock significant economic growth and much-needed new housing development in a ‘metropolitan’ area of the county close to Cork City.

The council’s planning and strategic policy committee has confirmed the conclusions of the council’s chief executive, Tim Lucey, that between 3,000 and 3,500 new houses need to be built each year to meet changing population needs and provide for population growth that will underpin the future economic development of the region.

Mr O’Shea said that, in an area closest to the city, more than 60% of the supply of land for new housing has been identified in a plan comprising of nine large development sites in Ballincollig, Ballyvolane, Blarney, Carrigaline, Carrigtwohill, Cobh, Dunkettle, Midleton, and Monard.

Housing and business development in those strategic locations, it was claimed, cannot commence without state investment in infrastructure. Provisional estimates suggest three of the sites — Carrigaline, Carrigtwohill and Midleton — could deliver over 6,800 houses but require state-backed support totalling €24.7m, mainly to secure adequate roads and footpaths, surface water drains and amenity infrastructure.

Irish Water has already indicated it will make provision for investment to support the council’s proposed developments.

“It is crucial we, in Cork, get the state investment needed in order to pave the way for the much-needed housing requirements for the county,” said Mr O’Shea. “Cork County Council’s planning staff have outlined the need to build in excess of 10,000 additional houses in order to cater for the sustainable and coordinated growth of Cork as a whole.

“I am calling on the Government to invest in Cork in order to secure its economic and social development for the future.”

Mr O’Shea also said that the initial cost to the State would be around €3,600 per home, a similar level of investment to that recently identified by the Dublin Housing Task Force.

However, the county council, it emerged, intends to recoup a substantial contribution towards the cost of any proposed infrastructure from developers as projects progress. In the meantime, the local authority requires state backing to fund the initial outlay necessary for developments to commence.

Mr O’Shea said that council staff are preparing ‘framework master-plans’ for each site to co-ordinate the timing of development with the provision of infrastructure.