First purpose built Cost Rental and social housing development wins Social Housing Development of the Year
29th April 2022: Approved Housing Bodies Respond and Tuath have said they are delighted to be announced as the winners of Social Housing Development of the Year Property at the National Property Awards 2022. The award is for ‘Woodside’, a development on the Enniskerry Road (Dublin) of purpose built cost rental and social housing homes, delivered in partnership by Respond and Tuath Housing.
The scheme includes Ireland’s first purpose built cost rental homes consisting of 155 homes (50 cost rental and 105 social housing). The development was delivered by Respond and Tuath in partnership with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Housing Agency and the Housing Finance Agency.
The homes are a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom properties. All of the 50 Cost Rental homes are 2-bedroom apartments. The Cost Rental apartments are let at a monthly rent of €1,200, a significant reduction when compared to market rents for 2-bedroom apartments in this location. The rent charged to tenants will cover the cost of delivering, managing and maintaining these homes and will not be driven by market movements.
The development offers its tenants a community facility along with lots of green spaces. The site is located near to a wide range of amenities, public facilities, schools, health services, local community and sports groups.
Niamh Randall, Spokesperson for Respond said:
“Respond are delighted to have won this award with our partners in Tuath Housing. ‘Woodside’ on the Enniskerry Road is a unique collaboration between Respond and Tuath Housing, providing a new type of housing tenure in addition to social housing, private renting and private purchase. We are so pleased to have been able to welcome tenants to their new homes over the past few weeks and we hope they will be very happy living there. Our Housing team will be there to support them as they move into their new lifetime homes. This would not have been possible without the support and partnership of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, the Housing Agency and the Housing Finance Agency. We must also pay tribute to the excellent work of Duggan Brothers who were the contractors on site. We very much look forward to working with our partners to deliver further cost rental and social homes around the country to those who need them. ”
Daragh O’Sullivan, Chairman of Tuath Housing commented;
“We are thrilled to have won the award for best Social Housing Development of the Year, along with our partners Respond, for this ground-breaking development of Ireland’s first purpose-built cost rental scheme combined with 105 high quality social homes at Woodside , Enniskerry Rd. We were delighted to have worked closely on the delivery of these homes with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, the Housing Agency, the Housing Finance Agency and the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage. Huge credit must also go to Duggan Brothers for delivering the highest standard of homes at Woodside. The rent paid by the new tenants will cover the cost of providing, managing and maintaining the homes for decades to come, and not a cent more. This flagship project offers the new tenants a much more affordable, long-term and secure form of rental tenure with the added benefit that their rent will not be driven by future price hikes in the private rental market. We look forward to supporting the new tenants at Woodside, engaging and creating a sustainable community. We are pleased to be working on another six cost rental schemes and we look forward to allocating 250 properties throughout 2022 and 2023”.
For further information and interviews contact:
Saoirse Comerford, Senior Communications Officer, Respond 087 946 5633.
About Respond
Respond, an Approved Housing Body and service provider, has been working all around Ireland for 40 years. Our vision is that every family and individual in Ireland will have high‐quality housing as part of a vibrant and caring community. Housing and decent accommodation, in the areas where people want to live, are central to improving people’s lives and enhancing the health and well‐being of society.
Approximately 14,424 tenants live in 6,503 homes across the 26 counties that we either own or manage; of these, there are 5,536 Respond social housing tenancies. Respond also provide a range of services for families and individuals within our communities. This includes emergency accommodation with 24/7 support for families who are homeless in six Family Homeless Services, three Day Care Services for Older People, 17 Early Learning and School Aged Care, Family Support and Refugee Resettlement services. Our aim is to provide person centred services to support people to achieve their goals and reach their full potential.
About Tuath Housing
Tuath Housing is an Approved Housing Body (AHB) established in 2000 and awarded Voluntary Housing Status by the Department of the Environment. Tuath’s core social purpose is to help people across Ireland secure and maintain a home that is both safe and warm, and one that they can afford.
The Association has rapidly grown since letting its first homes in late 2006 and now has over 8,500 properties nationwide providing homes to over 22,000 tenants.
Tuath is governed by a Board of Directors with a broad range of business skills and commitment to social outcomes required to run a growing AHB.
We employ more than 135 staff across four regional offices who are overseen by an experienced management team with skills in tenancy management, project management, financial management, human resources, legal and communications.
We are an award-winning housing provider and are members of the Irish Council for Social Housing, the Housing Alliance, and the Chartered Institute of Housing.
We strongly believe in the importance and value of working in partnership with our many stakeholders to deliver more homes to more people, creating communities across the country.
About Approved Housing Bodies
Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) are not-for-profit organisations that have a social purpose to provide for people’s housing needs by working in close co-operation with the Government, local authorities and relevant agencies
