A new home for 67 families

Minister of State at the Department of Housing to open Clúid’s latest housing scheme in Ashbourne.

67 families have received keys to their brand new homes in Milltown Meadows, Ashbourne, Co. Meath. They had been waiting seven years on average on the social housing waiting list. The Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Damien English, T.D. will welcome the new residents, which include seven Syrian families, this morning (9th July).

After only 15 months in construction, Clúid Housing, in partnership with Glenveagh Properties and Meath County Council, has delivered a brand new estate which brings much needed affordable housing to the area. The surrounding area is predominantly privately owned residential housing. Little or no social housing has been built in Ashbourne for over 15 years. This has left significant demand for good quality affordable housing. There are currently 3,779 households on the Meath County Council housing waiting list.

Speaking ahead of the launch, Minister English said: “The provision of high-quality housing supports to help individuals and families meet their housing need across all tenures is one of the key objectives of Rebuilding Ireland An Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. The delivery of these much needed homes in Milltown Meadows, Ashbourne is a tangible example of the importance of partnerships between Approved Housing Bodies, such as Clúid Housing Association, the local authority, in this case Meath County Council, and a developer in getting homes built; furthermore, the delivery of these homes demonstrates this Government’s commitment to that objective. Developments such as Milltown Meadows will anchor strong communities, a performing economy and an environment of quality.”

Milltown Meadows is a mix of two, three and four bed houses, with a very high spec finish, energy efficient heating and an A-rated BER. The location is excellent and gives easy access to the city as well as a range of local services.

Clúid’s New Business Director Fiona Cormican said: “Currently Clúid has 236 homes in Co. Meath. We have a further 100 homes in the development pipeline to be delivered in 2018 and 2019 and we are continually looking for new opportunities to develop further in the county and beyond. We want to partner with developers and local authorities to deliver 2,500 units nationwide over three years.”

Justin Bickle, Co-Founder and CEO of Glenveagh Properties PLC said that the company was honoured to have partnered with Clúid on this development: “Our involvement with this project began through our predecessor business Bridgedale which became part of Glenveagh at our IPO. We are delighted to have partnered with Clùid in Ashbourne and hope that all the families who have taken up residence in this development will enjoy many wonderful years here. Projects such as this can play an important role in delivering more housing and we look forward to further co-operation with Clùid in the future.”

Clúid funded the scheme using a government loan of 24% of the total purchase price to leverage a larger bank loan from the Housing Finance Agency. Clúid will repay those loans using the rent paid by tenants (which is always affordable) and an availability payment from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.

Clúid Housing is the largest housing association in Ireland, delivering 6,500 high quality, affordable homes to people in housing need all over Ireland. Housing associations are independent, not-for-profit charities.