SOME 350 dangerous or “developer-abandoned” housing estates, in need of urgent work for the safety of residents, have been identified in a Government report published today.
The developments represent almost 8,000 houses and account for about one in six of the 2,800 “ghost” estates identified last October by the National Housing Development Survey, which was commissioned by the Department of the Environment.
Funding of €5 million will be available to local authorities from today to address the most immediate public safety hazards in the 348 estates that are partially occupied by residents but have never been completed.
The fund would provide an average of just €14,000 per estate. However, Minister of State for Housing Michael Finneran said yesterday that the money was not intended for the completion of developments but to address immediately the most pressing problems, such as open excavations, unprotected upper floor levels in half-built housing, or uncovered manholes.
The Advisory Group on Unfinished Housing Developments, set up last November to devise plans for the “completion or resolution” of the ghost estates, has today published its draft report, which recommends immediate action to deal with the 348 developments.
These estates should be dealt with as a priority, as they have an occupancy level of less than 50 per cent, meaning there are large numbers of vacant and partially completed structures in developments where people are living.
Cork County Council is identified by the group as having the highest number of estates in need of urgent attention, with 52 of the 348 estates. Cavan, which became a commuter county for Dublin during the boom years, has 34.
However, it says midland and Border region local authority areas have the most pronounced problems. These mainly rural areas will present the most difficulties in terms of solutions as there is a low population demand for housing. For example, Leitrim – the most sparsely populated county in the country – had 13 dangerous or abandoned estates, one more than Dublin city.
In all of these estates there is no current on-site work to resolve the public safety hazards, and in many cases they are classed by the group as “developer-abandoned developments”, where the builder or site owner is uncontactable.
In addition to possible safety hazards, such as unsecured construction materials, open pits where excavation has taken place, uncovered manholes and partially completed buildings that could be unstable, there are other “serious completion and compliance issues” that have a huge effect on the quality of life of residents. Among these are a lack of public lighting, defects with essential services such as water or sewerage and drainage infrastructure, or a lack of open areas.
Local authorities should only intervene directly in developments as a “last resort”, the report says, when there are serious risks to public safety or public health and all attempts to make a developer or lending institution remedy the problems have been exhausted, or are unlikely to yield a timely result.
In “extreme cases” it may be necessary for a local authority to compulsorily acquire all or parts of the estate under the Derelict Sites Act, which could result in some demolition.
