Homeless charity plans to build one-bed apartments in Dublin City

Homeless charity, the Peter McVerry Trust is developing social housing with new apartments, including one-beds in the pipeline.

The trust is to construct eight apartments in Dublin city centre and it is envisaged five will be one-bed units.

Housing and homeless campaigners across the board have said that the lack of one-bed homes is worsening the crisis.

The trust has just tendered for architectural and engineering services for a project that will cost approximately €1.5m.

The site is located on New Street South in Dublin City, close to St Patrick’s Cathedral and comprises a four-storey building.

There will be two apartments on each floor. The ground floor will have a one-bedroom (double bed) and a two-bedroom (double bed and single bed) apartment. The same will be replicated on the first and second floors and the third floor will consist of two one-bedroom apartments, both with double beds.

The site is currently owned by Dublin City Council and it will be acquired by the McVerry Trust through a rental lease. The entire project is subject to planning.

“New Street South is located in the south inner city close to the heart of the city. The development will be fully integrated and provides access to a range of services, transport, health, educational, cultural amenities, and employment opportunity,” tender documents state.

The homeless charity currently provides supported temporary accommodation (STA) services in the Dublin city, Fingal, Kildare and south Dublin council areas.

The trust states that “places are prioritised for those over 18 years of age who are homeless and have complex low-threshold needs”.

The STAs replace the traditional one-night emergency hostel model of accommodation and are based on a six-month placement, where food is provided as well as access to computers, laundry, and medical help.

However, due to the lack of accommodation to move on to, clients of the trust are staying longer than six months in the STA units.

Approximately 86% of the charity’s emergency beds are six-month supported placements.

Pat Doyle, the CEO of the Peter McVerry Trust, called for rapid build units at the time of the emergency housing summit earlier this month. “We note that the target of 5,000 social housing units for 2018 is a significant increase. However, we would call for a high proportion of this incoming stock to be rapid build, to ensure that we get as many turn-key units in place as soon as possible,” he said.