244 affordable houses approved

Cork city didn’t receive any funding this time around but more than 200 affordable homes have been approved in principle by the Department of Housing for Cork county, it was confirmed on Tuesday.

Fianna Fáil TD Kevin O’Keeffe welcomed the news that two towns in the East Cork constituency have been ear marked for affordable housing.

Mallow has been granted approval in principal for 50 affordable units while Midleton has also been granted approval in principal for a total of 89 affordable units. These two towns will have a total of 139 dwellings funded by the Serviced Sites Fund, an initiative operated and jointly funded by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.

Deputy O’Keeffe said: “This stream of funding needs to be further utilised, as it is a means of taking people off the housing market and easing the pressure in the rental market.”

He added that Fianna Fáil pushed for this in their pre-Budget 2019 submission, as there are many individuals and couples who seek to get on the housing market but cannot qualify due to income threshold limits on amounts borrowed and high property prices in areas across the country.

Meanwhile 50 units were approved in principle for Cammog in Kinsale, 17 in Beechgrove, Clonakilty as well as 38 at Kilnagleary in Carrigaline. This is the second round of funding under the Services Sites Fund. The first round saw funding approved for 103 houses on Boherboy Road and 21 on Kilmore Road in Churchfield.