{"id":95465,"date":"2025-09-30T20:49:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T20:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/95465\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T20:49:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T20:49:09","slug":"gardai-and-nurses-among-key-workers-eligible-to-rent-new-low-cost-dublin-city-homes-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/95465\/","title":{"rendered":"Garda\u00ed and nurses among \u2018key workers\u2019 eligible to rent new low-cost Dublin city homes \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Key workers, including nurses, garda\u00ed<\/a> and teachers, could have the opportunity to rent<\/a> low-cost homes in the heart of the capital<\/a> within three years under a Dublin City Council<\/a> regeneration scheme for vacant and derelict buildings. <\/p>\n

North Frederick Street and Middle Abbey Street have been selected for what the council is calling a \u201cbold urban-rejuvenation pilot\u201d to accelerate the provision of cost-rental homes<\/a> for essential city workers.<\/p>\n

Both streets in the north inner city have high levels of vacancy and dereliction, and while some buildings are in council ownership, most are privately owned. <\/p>\n

The council will offer supports and incentives to building owners to bring their properties back into use. However, where it encounters \u201cnon-co-operative owners\u201d, enforcement will be \u201cprioritised and escalated\u201d up to compulsory acquisition.<\/p>\n

The conversion of vacant buildings or unused space above shops into homes for essential workers was one of the 10 \u201cbig moves\u201d recommended by the Taskforce for Dublin<\/a>, the \u20ac1 billion plan to revitalise the area around O\u2019Connell Street published last October by then taoiseach Simon Harris.<\/p>\n

Essential workers listed in the report included healthcare, public transport and council workers, as well as garda\u00ed, teachers and retail and hospitality staff, all deemed essential to the operation of the city but could not afford to live there.<\/p>\n

The report of the council\u2019s urban redevelopment working group, presented to councillors on Tuesday, said the pilot would \u201ctransform derelict, vacant and underused buildings into new cost-rental homes for key workers [and] commercial, retail or mixed-use spaces, alongside public realm improvements and street activation measures\u201d. <\/p>\n

This represented a \u201cnew model of city-centre rejuvenation\u201d that could be scaled up citywide through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) due to be established to deliver the taskforce\u2019s aims. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018You don\u2019t really live\u2019: Long-distance commuting teachers priced out of DublinOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThis initiative addresses several urgent challenges in Dublin\u2019s core \u2013 a housing affordability crisis, numerous vacant and derelict properties in prime locations, and the need to revitalise the capital\u2019s historic heart \u2013 through a proactive approach that brings together multiple council departments, councillors, community groups, central Government, partner agencies and the private sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

The council has started compiling information on ownership, vacancy status, physical condition, and any planning history or development potential of the buildings on the two streets.<\/p>\n

In the next phase, running from now to June 2026, the council will put together a team and provide a \u201cone-stop-shop\u201d or \u201cconcierge service\u201d to building owners, which will provide design and technical advice, assistance navigating planning and building regulations, and information on financial incentives. <\/p>\n

In phase three, running to June 2027, the council will engage with owners to secure commitments to refurbish or sell their properties. This phase would also see enforcement against non-co-operating owners whose buildings will be entered on the derelict sites register and targeted for levy collection.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018By Friday, I\u2019m so tired I can barely see straight\u2019: The rise of long-distance commuting teachersOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In phase four, from January 2027 to May 2028, construction is expected to get under way, with the first homes made available. This phase will also see escalated enforcement with owners not engaged in the process at risk of having their properties taken into council ownership.<\/p>\n

The council was \u201cmaking clear that dereliction is a social crime and that leaving buildings derelict will incur consequences \u2013 from financial penalties to potential compulsory acquisition \u2013 while those who collaborate with the pilot will receive extensive, co-ordinated support\u201d, said working group chair Cian Farrell of the Social Democrats. \u201cThis robust enforcement backup ensures the pilot has teeth and that progress is not stalled by a few holdouts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The final phase involves the establishment of the SPV, a council company that will scale up the project citywide and take over longer-term rejuvenation.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Nurses caught in housing crisis: \u2018Within six months many think about leaving the country again\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Key workers, including nurses, garda\u00ed and teachers, could have the opportunity to rent low-cost homes in the heart…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[956,9,10,52,784,18,13,14,6,8752,21681,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,4097,44,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-95465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-an-garda-siochana","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-breakingnews","11":"tag-dublin","12":"tag-dublin-city-council","13":"tag-eire","14":"tag-featured-news","15":"tag-featurednews","16":"tag-headlines","17":"tag-housing-crisis","18":"tag-housing-demand","19":"tag-ie","20":"tag-ireland","21":"tag-latest-news","22":"tag-latestnews","23":"tag-main-news","24":"tag-mainnews","25":"tag-news","26":"tag-renting","27":"tag-simon-harris","28":"tag-top-stories","29":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}