Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has defended houses in an “affordable housing” scheme costing nearly €500,000.
“If you look at Oscar Traynor Woods, that's a major development there. They've been held up for 30 years,” he said.“851 homes we are going to deliver there, affordable purchase, cost rental and social started from €264,000. I've read the report. Three beds there, the larger three bedrooms, at €399,000 and, depending on affordability for people because there's an equity stake in them through the Affordable Housing Funds, they will range up to €475,000.
“We have a pipeline. We delivered over 4,000 affordable homes actually last year. I expected us to do over 6,000 this year. Oscar Traynor Woods has been a site that has been vacant and has been held up by most of the opposition parties I might add for the goods for 30 years. Our government and my department are funding this development to the tune of over €110m million to deliver 850 fantastic homes for our people.
He said: “To be eligible for one of these €500,000 homes you would need a gross household income of €106,875. The full price for a two-bed home is €450,000, with an initial price of between €355,769 and €427,500. You must be earning €96,188 to afford one of these.