Tag Archives: housing

ENNIS town centre has been suggested as the focus of a government pilot project aimed at bringing buildings back into residential use. Clare Independent TD Michael McNamara, who presented the proposal to the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dáil Éireann this week, said that many business premises which once had families living over them now lie empty over ground level for a variety of reasons including particularly building regulations and insurance costs. Addressing the Taoiseach in the Dáil, Deputy McNamara said, “Ennis, like other market towns in Clare and like market towns all over the country, has streets full of fine old buildings where there is a retail unit at ground level and in many but not all cases, they are vacant over ground level. A century ago, there were families living in them.” “I don’t underestimate the difficulty of converting those back into residential use. There are regulations, there are issues around financing, but it would offer many benefits not …

A NEW appeal has been launched seeking Clare properties to house people who have fled the war in Ukraine. Clare County Council is urging those who have unoccupied properties to offer them as temporary homes. The call is part of a new government initiative, led by local authorities, to make use of unoccupied houses, apartments or holiday homes to house Ukrainian people and families. A tax-free recognition payment of €800 per month is available for properties used to house those arriving from Ukraine. This payment rate applies from December 1, 2022. More than 60,000 people have arrived in Ireland from Ukraine seeking safety and the vast majority need accommodation. Under a new programme, Clare County Council will take offers of houses, apartments, or holiday homes for temporary accommodation, liaise with owners to assess suitability, and arrange for their use by Ukrainian people and families. Property owners can offer homes at offerahome.ie or by contacting Clare County Council via email at: offerahome@clarecoco.ie. …

WHILE Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien came to Clare on Monday for the launch of four new social schemes, there are still plenty of  housing challenges in the county. The new developments were launched in Ennis, Miltown Malbay and Tulla with a total of 153 homes being delivered from a total budget of over €40 million. The Cluain Gréine development in Lifford, Ennis, is the largest of the four new developments, with an approved budget of €18,923,877. This development provides 61 social housing units through the turnkey delivery stream. It was constructed by Manozo Ltd for Focus Capital. Also in Ennis, the Cnoc na Scoile development at Ashline on the Kilrush Road, provides 40 social housing units through a direct build scheme by Clare County Council. This development had an approved budget of €10,534,481. The project was completed in June and the appointed contractor on the project was M. Fitzgibbon Contractors Ltd. The Baile na mBan …

THERE are 17 times the number of properties in Ennistymon on Airbnb than are available for long term lets. This huge disparity of 627 Airbnb properties compared to 36 long term lets was highlighted by Clare senator Roisin Garvey. Addressing Minister of State at the Department of Housing Peter Burke, Ms Garvey asked for action to limit AirBnB’s impact in Clare, while she said the means of calculating what areas are Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) is flawed. Regarding AirBnB, Ms Garvey said, “I draw the Minister of State’s attention to figures I gleaned from Airbnb and Daft.ie. I put in 16 October and looked up Ennistymon, one of the closest towns to where I live. There were 627 places for Airbnb but in all of County Clare, there were only 36 places to rent. “To be clear, Airbnb has a very important part to play in the tourism sector but at the same time, we need to find a balance …

MOVING into her new home in Ennis’ newly launched Co-operative Housing Ireland Development has been an emotional “restart” for Amanda Shannon and her teenage son. Amanda sadly lost her husband five years ago, telling The Clare Champion her new home has become “healing” for her. “I think the attachment to the old house was too much so this new house has big, big meaning for me. It’s a restart.” A qualified teacher Amanda has been unable to work recently due to health issues including long Covid. Before moving into the Moínear development in Ros Leamhain she had been renting for eight years. She describes renting as “a challenge”, with her family experiencing issues such as damp and mould. “It would even be summer time and I’d have to wash the walls with a mask on because I didn’t want to breath in the mould. “During lockdown it was difficult to access care and we were in the house all the …

NEW housing could be horizon for O’Callaghan’s Mills, with planners considering an application for the development of three homes in the village.  Proposals for three four-bedroom homes were lodged by East Clare Construction, whose directors are listed as Joe and Teresa Cooney of Ballymacdonnell, Bodyke. Plans submitted show the proposed homes are detached, two-storey units, each with a garage. They are proposed for a site of just over half a hectare at Iragh, inside the village, owned by the company since 2015.  The floor space of each home is 167.5m squared and the application states that Part V of the Planning and Development Act does not apply in this case.  The development would be connected to the public water supply, and waste water management systems would have to be installed. A Site Suitability Report for one of the proposed homes, was prepared for the Waste Water Treatment System, in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) codes in July. The report …

WOODHAVEN Developments Limited has received planning permission for the construction of 55 houses and a childcare facility at Smithstown, Shannon. The County Council granted planning permission subject to 28 conditions, three of which require the developer to make separate payments, which, added together, come to over €600,000. One of the conditions requires “a contribution of €311,801 to Clare County Council in respect of public infrastructure and facilities benefiting development in the area of the Planning Authority that is provided for, or intended to be provided by or on behalf of the authority in accordance with the terms of the development contribution scheme under Section 38 of the Planning & Development Act 2000”. A separate requirement is for a cash security of €275,000 until the development is taken in charge by the Council or until there has “satisfactory completion of the development”. Separately before work starts a Special Development Contribution must be paid to Clare County Council, towards the upgrading of …

PLANS for a significant housing development for Tuamgraney have hit a hitch, with the local authority asking for clarity on a number of elements of the proposals. After a total of six objections to plans for 52 new homes on a 3.96 hectare site on the Dock Road, the planning authority has asked for clarification on several aspects of the application. The plans were lodged by Michael Pearl in April, seeking permission for six four-bedroom detached houses; 22 three-bedroom, semi-detached houses; 14 two-bedroom semi-detached houses; and ten two-bedroom semi-detached bungalows. The first concern raised in the Further Information (FI) request is over the road that serves the site. Planners have said that they consider that the L41341 “which is narrow and poorly surfaced, to be unsuited in its current condition to provide safe access to a multi-unit residential development”. The developer has been asked to consult the Killaloe area engineer to discuss how a minimum road width of 5.5 metres …