Cork council turns the sod on modular and social housing schemes in city

Des Riordan, Clancy Construction; Chief Executive Valerie O'Sullivan, Cork City Council; The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Dan Boyle; Assistant Chief Executive Brian Geaney, Cork City Council and Cllr. Peter Horgan pictured at turning the sod on a 90 home development at Clover Hill Court, Bessboro Road, Mahon, Cork. Picture: Alison Miles/OSM PHOTO

The sod has been turned on the first of modular social housing schemes in Cork City, which combined will deliver almost 100 new homes.

The start of work on the two sites was marked by the Lord Mayor Dan Boyle on Wednesday, as he also officially opened 30 A-rated social housing apartments at a third site.

Cork City Council now has several live and active housing projects under way, with an estimated 1,000 social and affordable housing units at various stages of delivery.

Mr Boyle first turned the sod on a modular housing scheme on the Model Farm Road, which will deliver 43 new apartments on the site of a former car dealership and garage, close to Munster Technological University.

It will include 17 one-bed apartments and 26 two-bed apartments and will be delivered by Clancy Project Management Limited. The scheme is funded by the Department of Housing.

He also turned the sod on the Clover Hill Court project on Bessboro Road, Mahon — a 90-home development comprising 28 one-bed apartments, 56 two-bed apartments and six three-bed two-storey houses, which will also be delivered by Clancy.

Both will be built using modern methods of construction, meaning that a lot of work will be done off site, with the units assembled on site, allowing for a much faster delivery timeline. 

Both schemes should be ready for occupation by January 2026.

Mr Boyle also officially opened 30 A-rated social housing apartments at Carraig View, on Church Road in Blackrock — a mix of six one-bed apartments and 24 two-bed apartments, developed by Lyonshall Ltd and built by Clancy Construction through the city council’s competitive dialogue procurement process.

The scheme is being managed by Tuath Housing Association on behalf of the council.

The apartments are designed to work with the adjacent Carraig Court development to create a strong urban design overlooking the Blackrock-Passage greenway and Blackrock hurling club.

Council chief executive Valerie O’Sullivan  said the three schemes were demonstrators of the creative design solutions being deployed to deliver housing.

“It is a particular source of pride in our team that they developed schemes on brownfield sites to provide homes for people, close to public transport links and existing community and commercial facilities,” she said.