Affordable housing: Dublin City Council bows to pressure with new lower prices at Oscar Traynor Woods

Lower prices will be on offer for homes at Dublin City Council’s affordable housing estate at Oscar Traynor Road, following widespread concern over the high costs of the new State-subsidised scheme.

The council has come under increasing pressure since it two weeks ago advertised prices of up to €475,000 for a three-bed semidetached house, for eligible affordable housing purchasers with incomes just over €106,000.

The costs were about €100,000 higher than expected when councillors signed off on the deal with developer Glenveagh in 2021 to build the homes on the council site in Coolock.

Prospective purchasers with lower incomes will now be able to buy the same three-bed house for as low as €360,931.

However, the council will take a considerably higher equity stake in these homes – almost 28 per cent.

At an emergency meeting last Monday to discuss the council’s flagship affordable housing scheme the council’s director of housing delivery, Dave Dinnigan, told councillors that Glenveagh was not getting “one more penny” from the increased price of the homes.

The increase in prices was caused by the rise in market values, which, according to the council’s valuers and an independent estate agent, put the Oscar Traynor Woods homes at €500,000 for the three-bed, at €450,000 for a two-bed and €325,000 for a one-bed.

The affordability calculation, under the rules of the scheme, meant a buyer with an income of up to €106,875 could qualify, if they paid €475,000 and the council took a 5 per cent stake in the scheme.

At the lowest end of the income scale someone earning approximately €90,000 would pay just under €400,000 for the three-bed house and the council would take about a 20 per cent stake.

Similar percentage reductions were applied for the one- and two-bedroom properties, with the homes costing one-beds costing €264,358 to €308,750, two-beds €355,760 to €427,500 and equity stakes from 5 to 21 per cent, depending on the buyers “purchasing power”.

For the two-beds, buyers could earn a minimum of €80,000 and a maximum of just over €96,000. The one-bed income eligibility ranged from about €60,000 to just under €70,000.

With the council now willing to take a substantially larger share of equity, up to just under 28 per cent, buyers will be able to apply for a one-bed costing €254,358 if they have an income of €56,000, and a two-bed for €325,769 if they earn €72,000.

The council had planned to open the scheme to applications next week but told councillors on Friday morning that it would postpone until July 30th.

Just 16 houses will then be available to buy out of a total of 172 affordable homes due to be built at Oscar Traynor Woods. In total 835 homes are planned for the estate, with the remainder split equally between cost-rental and social housing. The first 16 homes are expected to be completed early next year, and the entire estate is due for completion in 2027.