
Building of 106 Wicklow social homes halted indefinitely over ‘value for money'
Wicklow People
Today at 02:00
The delivery of 106 social homes in west Wicklow faces an uncertain future following the Housing Minister James Browne's decision to pull the plug on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project that was set to deliver the homes.
A total of 486 homes were due to be constructed through PPP Bundle 3, at sites in Blessington, Dublin, Kildare and Sligo. However, after evaluation of the costs associated, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has decided not to proceed with contract award on a value for money basis.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Extra.ie
2 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Councils set to be ranked in 'league table' on home building success
The Cabinet is expected to sign off on plans to create a 'league table' ranking councils on their delivery of new homes today. Housing Minister James Browne will also seek approval to slash red tape on the process to secure funding to build houses, reducing it from four steps to one. The twin-track move will pressure councils to deliver housing themselves, in a bid to tackle the most pressing political issue facing the Government. Taoiseach Micheál Martin recently criticised local authorities for not doing enough to help fix the housing crisis. It is intended that the league table will give a better snapshot of delivery across the sector, particularly on new builds by local councils countrywide. Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Pic: Simon Wohlfahrt/Bloomberg via Getty Images The Cabinet will consider two sets of data – local authorities delivering above their social housing targets through both construction and buying properties, and councils' records of delivery through the construction of social housing on State land. Many councils are delivering well when the leasing, buying and building of properties are included. Laois delivered 194% of its delivery target across all of the metrics between 2022 and 2024, by building 670 units against a target of 359. However, a separate table will be published on council 'own builds'. No council has delivered above 45% of its own build targets. Overall, councils only delivered 18% of their own-build targets between 2022 and 2024. Kildare County Council delivered 3% of its target by building 34 units, compared to a target of 1,179 over a three-year period. The Cabinet is expected to sign off on plans to create a 'league table' ranking councils on their delivery of new homes today. Pic: File Government sources stressed data is nuanced, with different challenges facing different councils. Mr Browne is keen to see councils do more direct building instead of competing against private bidders for turnkey properties. Sources pointed out that councils across the country are outbidding potential buyers. The Minister is keen to see an end to this practice by having councils build their own homes. Sources said the release of this data is aimed at ensuring and increasing 'transparency and accountability'. The Programme for Government commits to continuing to roll out the largest social housing programme in history, building around 12,000 new social homes per year. The Minister pulled together local authority chief executives, planners and heads of services in early June for a 'housing summit' in Dublin. Housing Minister James Browne. Pic: Sam Boal/Collins Photos It is understood Mr Browne indicated his ambitions for serious 'scaling up' in delivery from authorities – and a commitment to remove barriers, like the four-stage process, which local authorities have flagged as an issue. Mr Browne will also secure Cabinet approval for 'reducing dramatically' bureaucracy from an approvals perspective. Mr Browne has cut the four-stage process down to a single-stage process, to eliminate what sources have said are 'often significant delays' in getting projects ready to be built. The Government acknowledged that the four-stage process is a 'frustration' for local authorities. At the moment, own-build new social housing projects are advanced mainly by local authorities under this four-stage process, aligned with the requirements of the Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF). Mr Browne has identified the need for 'standardisation' of house types and specifications. There is also a focus from the Department on encouraging 'modern methods of construction'. New arrangements will become operational later this year. The Minister will mandate the use of specific design layouts and specifications, as per the Department of Housing's Design Manual for Quality Housing, for all new-build social housing. Sources said the Minister has said that since taking up his position, there is a 'drastic need' for more efficiency in delivering social homes at pace, and has long indicated a desire to streamline the process, which was seen as being excessively bureaucratic.


RTÉ News
11 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Govt to consider housing, planning memos
The Government is due consider a number of memos on housing and planning being brought to Cabinet today by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne. Among them will be the text of the bill that will allow for planning permissions to be extended for up to three years if development is being held up by judicial review proceedings. Pre legislative scrutiny of the bill has been waived and the minister aims to have the bill enacted before the summer break. A plan to significantly cut red tape for local authorities will also be presented. It will simplify the current four step process to just one step. In addition, Minister Browne will present a plan to regularly publish figures for local authorities that will show how many social houses are being delivered compared to the targets set. Ministers are also expected to get an update from Tánaiste Simon Harris on the progress of trade talks with the United States. Mr Harris will say that while the expected baseline 10% tariff will pose challenges for the Irish economy, there is positive momentum in the talks as they approach the 9 July deadline. Any deal that is made will have to be assessed against what exclusions from the 10% tariff can be secured, including scope for zero to zero arrangements that may be agreed for key sectors. However, he is also expected to tell ministers that nobody can predict what will happen with certainty. Today's Cabinet meeting will take place in the absence of Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who is due to arrive in Japan for a four day visit.


Extra.ie
2 days ago
- Extra.ie
Housing minister drops plans for €1m social homes
The government has been urged to abandon its 'expensive' approach to social housing and to fund councils directly after it emerged that the cost of building some local authority units has soared to more than €1m. Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin was speaking after it emerged the Department of Housing pulled the plug on the construction of almost 500 social homes in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Sligo after the cost of each home rocketed to over €1m. And the delivery of almost 3,000 new social homes – 2,000 of which are in the capital – will now be delayed after Housing Minister James Browne cancelled several projects about to begin construction over cost concerns. James Browne Pic: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos The Construction Industry Federation said the move could threaten the public-private partnership (PPP) model and have implications for major projects such as Metro North. Mr Ó Broin told 'As far back as 2019, Sinn Féin warned that the use of public-private partnerships for social housing delivery did not represent value for money.' The Dublin Mid-West TD said it is 'somewhat ironic that the Government is now collapsing PPP Bundle 3 on value-for-money grounds. 'As a result, up to 3,000 much-needed social homes are delayed'. Eoin Ó Broin. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire He added: 'The Government should never have used this model for social delivery. They should abandon this expensive approach entirely and fund the councils directly to deliver these 3,000 homes as a matter of urgency.' Housing Minister James Browne yesterday said he is 'determined to deliver' the social homes. He told 'We are assessing the quickest way to do this while ensuring value for taxpayers' money. I am cutting down on the jungle of red tape that is leading to delays and exceptionally high costs.' Rory Hearne. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire However, Social Democrats housing spokesman Rory Hearne said the Coalition 'has gone from incompetence to sabotage'. He told 'In a bizarre, almost GUBU moment, the Government has suspended a delivery project that was going to build almost 500 social homes, almost 200 of which are in my constituency, through public-private partnerships. They were ready to start on site in the coming weeks but the minister has pulled the plug on them. Almost 3,000 social homes are now in jeopardy. 'In fact, the Government spent €8m on developing these projects. Contractors had almost been appointed. The not-for-profit housing bodies had been brought on board. It is absolutely confounding as to how this decision was made. It is beyond comprehension.' Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín added: 'This is another example of drift in how we do housing. There is a need for urgent practical reform, such as ending VAT on houses, that will end this vicious cycle of indolent incompetence.' The latest housing setback comes as the Government is under increasing pressure to remove planning roadblocks that are hindering its pre-election promise to deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030. Pressure is switching from Mr Browne to Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers, whose Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce is due to deliver its first report over the coming weeks. The Coalition is also under pressure over the delayed implementation of the 906-page planning reform legislation, the Planning and Development Act 2024. Figures supplied by Mr Browne in response to parliamentary queries from Mr Ó Broin reveal just 77 sections of the legislation have so far been introduced. It means that, eight months after the Bill passed, 560 sections of the legislation have still not commenced. Commenting on the chaotic planning, Mr Ó Broin said: 'The crazy thing is, the problem with the Planning Bill of 2000 was that it was too complex. The previous government's solution to this was to replace it with a 900-page Bill with 700 commencements, 200 of which were rushed through.' He added: 'It was all guff and spin. It has been progressing at a snail's pace since. We have ended up with a Frankenstein's monster of unworkable and contradictory legislation. We asked two years ago: will a Bill that is nearly 1,000 pages long resolve this? And we have our answer now.'