When complete, Cherrywood in south Dublin will be the largest Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) in the history of the State with some 10,500 new homes accommodating a population of around 26,000 people.

As the largest undeveloped landbank in the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) area, and the largest of all 11 SDZ projects in Ireland, Cherrywood SDZ presents unique challenges, particularly in coordinating significant infrastructure across multiple landowners.

A new Housing Insights paper by The Housing Agency examines the progressive steps taken by DLRCC and its key stakeholders to ensure that infrastructure is plan-led, phased and strategically provided to support Cherrywood's development.

It shows how physical infrastructure is key to unlocking land for development, including water and drainage facilities, transport infrastructure, utilities and waste management. Social infrastructure - such as parks, schools and other shared amenities - can then be provided in tandem with the physical infrastructure. Both types of infrastructure are key to realising the concept of a "10-minute neighbourhood".

Read the full report here - Housing Insights Issue 5 - Supporting Sustainable Communities: The Successful Provision of Infrastructure in Cherrywood.

Access all our publications here - Publications | The Housing Agency

The Property Services Regulatory Authority and The Housing Agency will hold a lunchtime live webinar to provide insights into the importance of the Letter of Engagement (or contract) between owners’ management companies (OMCs) and licensed property management agents. 

Maeve Hogan, Chief Executive Officer of the PSRA, will provide an overview of:

• Relevant legislation
• Main features of the Letter of Engagement, including consumer protections
• Interaction with Minimum Standards for licensed agents
• Frequently arising matters / queries
• Sources of further guidance and information

The webinar will be of interest to people involved with OMCs and multi-unit developments, including directors of OMCs, licensed property management professionals, residents, Local Authorities, and Approved Housing Bodies.

The hour-long webinar will take place at 12.30pm on Tuesday 20 May 2025.

Registration for this free event is required via this Zoom Link 

Upon registration a confirmation email will issue with information about how to join the webinar.

Questions for the webinar Q&A may be emailed in advance before 12pm on Friday 16 May 2025 to MUD@housingagency.ie.

The session will be recorded for future use.

Places are limited to 1,000 attendees on a first-come first-served basis.

By registering for this webinar, you consent for the purposes of event management to the processing by The Housing Agency and the PSRA of your personal data (name and email address).

Disclaimer: 

Information provided during the webinar is general in nature.  It should not be considered to amount to legal advice, and no reliance should be placed on it.  Neither The Housing Agency nor the Property Services Regulatory Authority may be held responsible for actions or failure to act on foot of the information provided.  Legal or other professional advice should be sought on individual circumstances.

STATEMENT 

Thursday, 13th February, 2025 

Important update on Interim Remediation Scheme for fire safety defects in apartments and duplexes

The Housing Agency has become aware that the way the Interim Remediation Scheme (IRS) for fire safety defects in apartments and duplexes is currently operating is not fully compliant with national and EU procurement law. Addressing this issue to ensure that the scheme is fully compliant with procurement rules is essential. Unfortunately, this is likely to cause the IRS process to last some months longer than previously expected. 

The IRS process will continue once these procurement issues are resolved. It is important to note that the IRS will continue to operate as normal in all other respects including the scope of works included and the funding levels being provided. There are no changes in any other area other than procurement. The Government as set out in the recent Programme for Government, remains fully committed to helping affected homeowners.

The Housing Agency received legal advice on the current tendering processes associated with the scheme and it was confirmed that the funding provided by the Agency to Owners’ Management Companies (OMCs) requires compliance with public procurement law. This is the case even though the OMC, a private company, will be the legal entity entering into contracts with the Competent Professionals and Competent Builders.

In light of this legal advice, The Housing Agency is now in the process of revising the IRS to ensure it aligns with EU and national public procurement requirements. This work is being undertaken in collaboration with other state agencies, including the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Office of Government Procurement.

Given the complexity of the matter and the number of actions required, it is anticipated that it will take some months to amend the process.

OMCs that have applied to the scheme have been advised of the situation and will be updated as soon as details of the revised process are finalised. 

The procurement issue came to light as part of an ongoing Pathfinder process managed by the Housing Agency as part of the wider IRS to identify issues that might need to be addressed in advance of the launch of the full statutory Scheme later this year. 

To qualify for the IRS, apartments and duplexes must have fire safety defects and must have been built between 1991 and 2013. The scheme provides for the funding of eligible emergency fire safety defect works in order to provide an acceptable level of fire safety in buildings, pending the completion of the full remedial works. Full remedial works, which will include all necessary fire safety measures as well as those related to water ingress and structural damage, will be funded under the statutory scheme to be legislated for.

The IRS only applies if the defects were caused by defective design, workmanship or materials that breached the building regulations that applied when the property was built.

A total of 195 applications, covering 18,670 apartments and duplexes, have been made under the IRS. The final cost of the overall Scheme is estimated at more than €2 billion and this will help to remediate up to 100,000 affected apartments across the country. 

Read the Housing Agency February 2025 Stakeholder Newsletter - February 2025 Stakeholder Newsletter

This month we shine a spotlight on our Research Support Programme which funds research into topical housing issues that have the potential to impact housing policy and practice. We take a look at the Property Optimisation Unit, a team within the Agency that provides advice and support to local authorities addressing vacancy within their areas. This edition also contains more information about our Housing Practitioners’ Conference, our new four-part webinar series on community-led housing, and much more.

Subscribe to our newsletter here - https://tinyurl.com/yey84tef

The Housing Agency and the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) will host the 2025 Housing Practitioners’ Conference, taking place in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Athlone, Co Westmeath on Thursday, 10th April and Friday 11th April (half day). 

The conference will involve expert speakers and workshops. The conference brochure is available to view here - Conference Brochure

The workshop brochure is available here - Workshop Brochure

The conference is aimed at housing practitioners including local authority staff, approved housing bodies and Government officials. 

To register for the conference please visit the IPA website here - Housing Practitioners' Conference 2025 | Registration 

The Housing Agency has put together a reference document with information for housing practitioners, academics and students. Read the 2024 Key Irish Housing Publications Report here - 2024 Key Irish Housing Publications

It lists, by month, Irish housing papers, publications, and reports with links to sources from 2024. This is the second instalment of this report.

We hope it will be a useful resource for the sector.

To find out more click here - 2024 Key Irish Housing Publications | The Housing Agency. 

To view the Key Irish Housing Publications of 2023 please click here - 2023 Key Irish Housing Publications 

Join our webinar series on community-led housing!

Community-led housing encompasses a wide range of approaches to housing, but they all share a common goal – to meet a local housing need via collaboration, empowerment and mutual support.

Our webinar series aims to raise awareness of community-led housing as a new form of affordable housing in Ireland, to showcase examples of it in other countries and reflect on the future of community-led housing in Ireland.

There will be four webinars in our series on the following topics:

1. Introducing community-led housing
2. Community-led housing as affordable housing
3. Community-led housing for age friendly living
4. State support for community-led housing

You can register for the webinars individually at the links below. 

• Introducing Community-led Housing Tickets, Wed, Feb 12, 2025 at 12:00 PM | Eventbrite
• Community-Led Housing as Affordable Housing Tickets, Tue, Feb 25, 2025 at 12:00 PM | Eventbrite
• Community-Led Housing for Age-Friendly Living Tickets, Tue, Mar 11, 2025 at 12:00 PM | Eventbrite
• State Support for Community-Led Housing Tickets, Wed, Mar 26, 2025 at 11:30 AM | Eventbrite

• To view the slides and webinar recording for session one, Introducing Community-Led Housing, click here: 
  • Slide deck, 

  • webinar recording. 

     

• To view the slides and webinar recording for session two, Community-Led Housing as Affordable Housing, click here: 
  • Slide deck, 

  • Webinar recording. 

     

• To view the slides and webinar recording for session three, Community-Led Housing for Age Friendly Housing, click here:
  • Slide deck,

  • Webinar recording.

     

• To view the slides and webinar recording for session four, State Support for Community Led Housing, click here: 
  • Slide deck,
  • Webinar recording. 

PRESS STATEMENT

Wednesday, 18th December, 2024

Housing Agency announces Martin Whelan as new CEO

The Housing Agency is pleased to announce that Martin Whelan has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Agency and will take up the role on 31st March, 2025.

Mr Whelan will join The Housing Agency from the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) where he is currently Head of Group Corporate Affairs and Communications.

Speaking following his appointment, Mr Whelan said: “I have become very familiar with the valuable work of The Housing Agency over an extended period and I see this role as one that is of immense significance to our society – now more than ever.

“Delivering sustainable and affordable housing for everyone in Ireland is rightly seen by so many people throughout Ireland – and by our policymakers – as an overriding priority.

“I look forward to leading the outstanding people in The Housing Agency in working with political, social, industry and other stakeholders to play a major part in achieving that.”

Mr Whelan’s appointment has been welcomed by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD, who said: “I am delighted to welcome Martin to his new role as CEO of The Housing Agency. The organisation provides invaluable support to my department and plays a crucial role in our delivery of much needed housing initiatives. With Martin’s experience and expertise, we look forward to working together and building further on the great work the Agency has already achieved.”

Michael Carey, Chairman of The Housing Agency, said: “Martin is a highly experienced corporate leader with extensive expertise in corporate governance, organisational strategy, and strategic management. Martin also brings considerable experience across corporate affairs, including government, media and public relations, communications and leading stakeholder engagement.

“These roles have also given him significant exposure to major housing policy initiatives in which the NTMA has a role over the past decade, inputting into the strategy of and leading external affairs and stakeholder engagement across the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund’s (ISIF) €1bn housing and enabling infrastructure programme, Home Building Finance Ireland’s (HBFI) €2bn development finance programme, and NAMA’s commercial, residential development, and social housing programmes.”

Mr Whelan has been Head of Group Corporate Affairs and Communications at the NTMA since 2017. He has previously served as a Non-Executive Director at Threshold Ireland.

ENDS

Contact: Breda Heffernan, Communications Manager, The Housing Agency, breda.heffernan@housingagency.ie

Notes to Editors:

About The Housing Agency

The Housing Agency supports the development of sustainable communities across Ireland. It works to meet the nation’s housing needs by:

• Co-ordinating programmes that can transform how we live. 
• Providing technical support to accelerate the delivery of housing projects.
• Using data and research to provide evidence-based solutions.
• Advising the Government on housing policies.
• Collaborating with all those involved in the housing sector in Ireland to ensure we are working as effectively as possible. 

A State-funded body, The Housing Agency works mainly with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, local authorities and non-profit housing providers.

October 

• Budget 2025 was published, which allocated a total of €7.93 billion to housing. €80 million was allocated to the First Home Shared Equity Scheme, €110 million for the Affordable Housing Fund and €90 million for the Secure Tenancy Affordable Rental scheme 

• The Planning and Development Bill was approved by the House of the Oireachtas.  

• The Homeless Report for September 2024 was published and found that 14,760 people were accessing emergency accommodation during the week 23-30 September 2024 

• The Social Housing Construction Projects Status Report for Q2 2024 was published, showing there were 10,465 social homes on site and 16,614 homes at design and tender stage. 

• Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant Statistics were published for Q3 2024. 1,180 applications were received, 1,261 applications were approved, and 336 grants were issued on completion of work.  

• Residential Commencement Notices were published for September 2024, indicating 11,385 homes commenced in the period and 49,007 homes had commenced in the first nine months of 2024. 

November 

• Residential Commencement Notices were published for October 2024, indicating 4,249 homes commenced in the period and 53,256 homes had commenced in the first ten months of 2024. 

• The Homeless Report for October 2024 was published and found that 14,966 people were accessing emergency accommodation during the week 21-27 October 2024. 

• The CSO launched a new platform for information on housing. The Housing Hub has been developed by the CSO to serve as a single source for key housing information using the latest data from the CSO and other public service bodies. 

December 

• The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage published the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations Technical Guidance 2024 

Relevant publications  

• ICLRD – “InPLACE Investigating Planning, Place-Making, and Community” – 8th October 2024 

• Campbell Tickell – CT Brief Issue 74 – October 2024 

• Dublin Regional Homeless Executive – New families entering emergency accommodation in the Dublin region, years 2020-2023 – 5th November 2024 

• The Housing Agency – Sustainable Compact Development – 6th November 2024 

• WHO – State of long-term care in Ireland – November 2024  

• Campbell Tickell – CT Brief Issue 75 – December 2024 

• ESRI – An assessment of property level rental price growth in Ireland – 5th December 2024 

• AHURI - Lived experience participation and influence in homelessness and housing policy, service design and practice – 5th December 2024  

• Ipsos and HousingLIN – Older People’s Housing Preferences – 10th December 2024.