10 January 2017
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Clúid provides 869 homes to date in Cork and 5,777 units across the country. And Clúid is aiming to deliver many more, with 2,500 homes in the pipeline over the next three years.
Clúid’s spokesperson Simon Brooke said: “[local authorities] they support us in assessing the need for social housing in an area, in achieving the funding and planning, and in referring households from their waiting lists. They have been vital to every single home added in 2016 and we thank them sincerely for collaborating with us to accomplish this important outcome.
“At a time of growing demand for social housing, Clúid’s relationship with local authorities has never been more important. Together we combine public, social and business capacity to make the best possible use of the limited resources that are available. We very much look forward to collaborating with them over the next few years.”
Clúid’s newest schemes are funded using a small government loan to leverage a larger bank loan, usually from the Housing Finance Agency (HFA). The HFA is an independent organisation which provides long term loans at very advantageous rates. Clúid will repay those loans using the rent paid by tenants (which is always affordable) and an availability payment from the Department of the Environment.
Mr. Brooke added: “The standard of these new homes is what we should expect of good, quality housing. Our aim is to create ‘ordinary’ housing which is indistinguishable from any other housing. Our focus is on quality and value for money. We invest in sustainable homes that will be around for a very long time to come; homes that are well-designed. In this way we will avoid costly repair problems in the future and establish a reputation for high quality housing. We are then able to counteract the challenges that commonly arise around social housing.”
