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11th Nov 2020

Peter McVerry Trust to deliver over 210 social housing units in Ireland in the next 12 months

Conor Heneghan

Peter McVerry Trust

A new development on Haddington Road will deliver 18 social housing units in Dublin 4 alone.

National housing and homeless charity Peter McVerry Trust has committed to delivering more than 210 social housing units in Ireland over the next 12 months.

The charity made the announcement following the publication of its annual report for 2019 at a new construction project on Haddington Road on Dublin 4, where 18 new social housing units will be delivered.

Between now and the end of 2021, Peter McVerry Trust says it will deliver over 210 social housing units in Ireland via a combination of construction, leasing, re-use of empty buildings and acquisition.

70% of these units will be one-bedroom apartments, the availability of which has been described by the charity as “the single biggest barrier” facing the roll-out of its Housing First programme.

The majority of the new units will be located in Dublin, but there will also be units in Limerick and Kildare and smaller projects across several other counties.

Figures from the annual report from 2019 showed that the charity worked with 6,184 people across Ireland last year, as well as 21 local authorities.

Peter McVerry Trust said it expects 2020 to be its best year yet on housing delivery, as it ramps up social housing provision by re-using long term vacant units as social housing.

Pat Doyle, CEO of Peter McVerry Trust, said: “Last year was very busy for us, with many key developments within the organisation.

“Among those was the significant expansion of our Housing First work as we secured new contracts in Dublin, the Midlands, the Mid-East and the North East regions which will see us delivering 61% of the national Housing First programme.”

“Launching our report here today at this construction site on Haddington Road ties in with our goal to grow and expand our Housing First work. This development will deliver 18 one-bedroom homes and will enable us to provide more homes for people targeted by Housing First as well as others in homelessness and leaving State care.

“The single biggest barrier facing the roll-out of Housing First is the lack of available one-bedroom homes across our cities and towns. That is why we are trying to play a more active role in supplying those homes directly with funding from the local authorities and the Department of Housing.”

You can read the Peter McVerry Trust annual report for 2019 in full here.

Clip via Peter McVerry Trust

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