First Christmas in a new home
405 Cork social housing tenants have their first Christmas in their new lifetime home.
That’s according to Respond, an approved housing body and service provider, who said on Tuesday that they delivered 45 new homes in Cork in 2021.
Nationally, Respond delivered 624 new social homes and commenced construction on 685 additional homes over the course of the year. The Approved Housing Body currently has 1,562 homes in construction and on-site. 2,454 social housing tenants were welcomed into their lifetime homes this year.
Respond, which has a building programme valued in excess of €1bn, says it delivers homes in 15-18 months from commencement on site based on the homes in its current building programme.
The organisation said it welcomed 405 new tenants in Cork to lifetime homes they own or manage from January to the end of November, bringing the total number of Respond’s tenants in Cork to 1,570. This number may increase again before year end. Niamh Randall, spokesperson for Respond said it is the policy of Respond to add to the national housing stock through the construction of new homes on a not-for-profit basis, rather than buying existing homes. She said: “This year we were delighted to deliver 45 new social homes in Cork. This was a part of our national building programme where we delivered 624 new social homes and commenced construction on 685 additional homes over the course of the year. More than nine out of ten homes we delivered in 2021 are newly-built lifetime homes delivered on fixed price contracts.
“We consistently deliver large-scale, quality housing developments in sustainable locations and we have strong in-house design expertise. Our development team includes architects, quantity surveyors, planners, technicians and more, all of whom add value to each and every construction project.”
She added: “In our Strategic Plan 2018-2023, the target of delivering 2,500 new homes nationally was set.
“Earlier this year, our board increased that target to 3,500 new homes. We are currently undertaking a mid term review of our strategic plan, particularly in light of the publication of the Government’s Housing for All plan, and expect these targets to further increase.”