30 December 2021
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Respond, an Approved Housing Body and service provider, delivered 45 new homes in Cork in 2021. Nationally, Respond delivered 624 new social homes and commenced construction on 685 additional homes over the course of the year. The Approved Housing Body currently has 1,562 homes in construction and on-site. 2,454 social housing tenants were welcomed into their lifetime homes this year. Respond, which h has a building programme valued in excess of €1bn, says it delivers homes in 15 to 18 months from commencement on site based on the homes in its current building programme.
The organisation said that they welcomed 405 new tenants in Cork to lifetime homes they own or manage from January to the end of November, bringing the total number of Respond’s tenants in Cork to 1,570. This number may increase again before year end.
Niamh Randall, Spokesperson for Respond said that it is the policy of Respond to add to the national housing stock through the construction of new homes on a not-for-profit basis, rather than buying existing homes.
“This year we were delighted to deliver 45 new social homes in Cork. This was a part of our national building programme where we delivered 624 new social homes and commenced construction on 685 additional homes over the course of the year. More than nine out of ten homes we delivered in 2021 are newly-built lifetime homes delivered on fixed price contracts. We consistently deliver large-scale, quality housing developments in sustainable locations and we have strong in-house design expertise. Our Development team includes architects, quantity surveyors, planners, technicians and more, all of whom add value to each and every construction project.
“In our Strategic Plan 2018-2023, the target of delivering 2,500 new homes nationally was set. Earlier this year, our Board increased that target to 3,500 new homes. We are currently undertaking a Mid Term Review of our Strategic Plan, particularly in light of the publication of the Government’s Housing for All plan, and expect these targets to further increase.”
Niamh Randall, Spokesperson for Respond reflecting on the work of Respond services around the country said the work in our services has been exceptional in this difficult year for so many.
“Respond, as a service provider, is committed to developing vibrant and diverse communities and empowering individuals, families and communities to reach their full potential. Reflecting over the past year, we are extremely proud of how our services have supported families and individuals across their life cycle through our Family Homeless services, Early Learning and School Age Care, Day Care Services for older people, Refugee Resettlement and Family Support services.”
Niamh Randall, Spokesperson for Respond said our work is the result of meaningful partnership and collaboration.
“We thank our tenants and service users who are at the heart of our work and the reason we do the work we do. Thank you to our staff, our dedicated board of directors and our partners in Local Authorities, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Housing Agency, the Housing Finance Agency, the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive and the Health Service Executive for their continued hard work and support. We are looking forward to 2022 and continuing to deliver additional social and affordable housing to people and the provision of family homeless services and services in the community.”
Respond reported that from January to the end of November 2021:
- Family Homelessness Services: We worked with 188 Families; 240 children and 250 adults across six family homeless services.
- Day care Services for older people: We worked with 175 older people in three settings, Blackpool (Cork), Finglas and Baldoyle (Dublin) from July 2021 when services reopened in lined with Covid-19 restrictions
- Our Cork based Day Care service provided 3,678 meals on wheels this year to service users who were unable to attend the service due to Covid-19 restrictions and to vulnerable/older residents of St Francis Gardens.
- Refugee Resettlement service: We worked with 405 individuals and 92 families in 5 counties.
- Family Support: We supported 153 families and 70 individuals through 1-2-1 supports.
- Early Years and School Age services: We worked with 448 children across 17 services in 2021.
