Peter McVerry Trust, the national homeless and housing charity announced on Monday, 11 December that they have received planning permission for the refurbishment of 18 apartments in Dublin City Centre.
The apartments are to be created by reusing a Dublin City Council building, located on 181-187 Townsend Street that has been vacant since 2011.
This redevelopment will be the charity's largest capital housing project to date after having received €1.7m in state funding. It will also serve as the first phase in a series of housing projects planned by the trust over the next two years.
Calling this a "real good news story"
during the nationwide homeless crisis, CEO of Peter McVerry Trust, Pat Doyle said, "At the end of this project, there will be 18 new keys to a home and 18 people leaving homelessness behind. This is the type of project that we want to do much more of because more social housing is the only way we can sustainably reduce the number of people in homeless services."
“The existing building, owned by Dublin City Council, has been derelict for a long number of years and is need of major upgrade and renovation works.”
“Our plan for the building is to modernise it, increase the size of the apartments within it and carry out substantial works around stairwell arrangements and lift access. Ultimately, what we will create are high-quality homes for single people. Each new resident will receive dedicated supports from Peter McVerry Trust housing staff to help transition from street or hostel living to their new homes and to re-engage with education, training and employment.”
https://twitter.com/PMVTrust/status/940157259711238144
He also said that these apartments will give shelter to single people currently using homeless services, noting that “Peter McVerry Trust has regularly flagged the lack of housing options for single people in homelessness. These units will provide much-needed housing options and allow 18 single person households to exit homelessness for good.”
In a statement, the charity said it is currently preparing to issue a public tender to appoint a project contractor so as to begin working on the scheme in early 2019.
