FUNDING of close to €1.6 million has been provided to build eight new local authority homes in Ennis.
A provisional budget has been approved by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to build eight homes at Beech Court, Roslevan, Ennis.
These homes will be made up of two two-bedroom single-story homes, five three-bedroom two-storey houses and one four-bedroom two-storey house.
A total of €1,248,200 will be allocated to Clare County Council for the construction of these houses, while a further €200,000 will be provided to the local authority for site costs, with the remainder of the funding for technical fees, salaries and utilities.
The funding for the eight new homes on a site at Beech Court and Beech View, which already has a housing stock of 48 houses, is being provided under the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness.
Minister of State for Employment and Small Business Pat Breen said, “This latest funding for new homes in Ennis follows on from the provision of €3.66m for a links road that will free up land and allow for the construction of 200 new homes at Claureen. This funding will help deliver a mix of private, rental and social housing.
“There is a strong pipeline of social housing projects for Clare being provided by both Clare County Council and approved social housing associations for Ennis, Westbury, Quilty, Shannon, Feakle, Clonlara, Sixmilebridge and Doonbeg.
“Funding has been committed to all of these projects and while some projects may not be moving as quickly as I would like, I will continue to push for these homes to be built as quickly as possible.
“Building a house is a long process, so, in the interim, Clare County Council has also received funding to purchase homes for their housing stock and refurbish houses already in their ownership. Since 2015, Clare County Council has acquired 172 extra houses and refurbished 175 vacant Local Authority homes, having received funding of €2.8m for refurbishment.”
So far this year, Clare County Council has already spent in the region of €3.6m on social housing.
In 2015-2017, Clare County Council was allocated €26m under the previous social housing programme.
By Jessica Quinn
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.