Rapid-build houses in Cork 'on track' despite no construction

The proposed Westside apartment complex on Model Farm Road, Cork. It could be several weeks yet before a contract is awarded for the project.

Cork City Council has insisted that one of its first modular rapid-build social housing schemes “is on track” despite no sign of construction on the site 10 months after planning was approved.

City councillors voted in August 2022 to approve Part 8 planning for the 43-unit, four-to-five-storey Westside social housing apartment scheme on the Model Farm Road. However, tenders for the project were only published in May of this year, with a closing date of June 30.

It could be several weeks yet before a contract is awarded and it is estimated that it could take up to 12 months to build. By contrast, the country’s first modular housing scheme for Ukrainian refugees, a 64-unit development on Cork city’s southside, was delivered in under seven months.

While the Ukrainian project is a much simpler development, and of a type that can bypass the planning process, Sinn Féin Cllr Mick Nugent said faster delivery is needed for all types of social housing.

“There needs to be a much speedier turnaround and delivery of all types of housing — whether it’s social, affordable, modular, Traveller accommodation,” he said.

Planning was granted last August for the Westside development on the site of a former Blackwater Motors car dealership premises on Model Farm Road. The building and site are in the ownership of the city council.

Westside has been designed so the modular units slot on top of one another, allowing for much faster construction. Despite there being no sign of construction yet, Cork City Council insisted that the scheme is still on track.

It said it is one of two social housing projects that it proposes to develop in a single contract using 2D panelised and 3D modular construction methods. Along with the proposed Clover Hill Court project on Bessboro Road, Mahon, which secured Part 8 planning in March 2023, the schemes combined will deliver 133 housing units.

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In a statement, the council said following the grant of planning on both schemes, the detailed design of each project was then required in order to progress to tender stage.

“This is the usual process applicable to construction projects,” it said. "Cork City Council considers both projects to be on track and projected to commence construction in 2023." 

The Department of Housing says it is working closely with all local authorities to accelerate the delivery of social housing, including through the use of modern methods of construction (MMC) – which includes prefabricated and modular build units.

It said local authorities have been advised that these approaches should be adopted where appropriate on local authority-owned land. “For the period to the end of 2024, at least 1,500 houses are expected to be completed under this programme," the department said.