Over 80 cost rental homes to be built in affluent Limerick suburb 

Land Development Agency will develop the homes in Castletroy

Labour councillor Joe Leddin had criticised the agency for failing to deliver homes in LImerick.

State lands housing body the Land Development Agency (LDA) is to construct 81 cost rental homes in an affluent suburb of Limerick.

The LDA said it would deliver the new homes at the town of Castletroy via Project Tosaigh, the Housing For All initiative for which the LDA holds the mandate for kickstarting stalled construction projects.

It will be the first time that it will provide homes in Limerick, the agency said.

The LDA said that it is in the process of acquiring the 81 homes — comprising 45 two-bed and 36 one-bed apartments at The Mills development on the town’s Dublin Road — which will all be made available “at cost rental rates to eligible candidates”, with the relevant rental prices “yet to be finalised”.

The apartments are currently under construction via household name developer Cairn Homes.

Cost rental housing is a form of affordable housing whereby a home’s rent is dictated solely by the cost of building and maintaining the dwelling, with no profit for the developer factored into the calculation.

Rents must be at least 25% below market value to qualify as cost rental, while security of tenure is guaranteed. 

Such housing is aimed at lower-middle-income families who are not eligible for housing assistance payments but who likewise do not own a home.

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LDA chief executive John Coleman said the new homes, which are expected to be completed in 2024, will give those eligible to live there “a real opportunity to access a newly built home that they can afford to rent and that provides them with security of tenure”.

A further 57 homes will be delivered at The Mills via an approved housing body, bringing the total of cost rental dwellings available at the development to 138.

The news comes two months after the LDA was sharply criticised by local Limerick Labour councillor Joe Leddin for having failed to deliver homes on State land in Limerick, a fact Mr Leddin described as being “a shocking indictment of the Government in the midst of a housing crisis”.