City councillors advised how to get land for social housing for free
City councillors have been told about a way the council could get land for free for the provision of social housing.The 3 sites at Ballyburke and Keeraun in the Knocknacarra/Rahoon area were originally owned by the Council but were transferred to the Land Aggregation Scheme in 2011 and 2012 as the loans on them were so high.
At last night's city council meeting Cllr Donal Lyons described the scheme as a type of NAMA within the department of local government. The Dublin based Housing Agency is managing the aggregation of local authority lands.Official Mr O'Connor last night gave a presentation to city councillors outlining their options for the lands they transferred.He explained the council may use the land for social housing or other appropriate public uses with the approval of the Department of the Environment.Mr O'Connor agreed with Mayor Padraig Conneely that other uses could be a swimming pool or hospital but said a school site is separate and would have to be purchased by the Department of Education at market value.