Council looking at €80m price tag for 159 social housing homes near Maynooth

Units earmarked for social housing within plans for a large scale residential development outside Maynooth could come with a hefty price tag for Meath County Council.

Glenveagh Homes is proposing to provide 159 units in its Moygaddy development to Meath County Council for social housing at an estimated cost to the local authority of €79m. Units vary in price from an estimated €339,000 for a studio, while a four bedroom end of terrace property would comes with an estimated price of €839,000. A one bed later living unit would come in at €439,000.

Glenveagh Homes recently submitted a planning application for a major residential development of more than 750 homes on a 37 hectares sites at Moygaddy, Co Meath, on the outskirts of Maynooth.

As part of planning documentation submitted to confirm its compliance with Part V of the Planning and Development Act where 20 per cent of the developments are available to local authorities for social homes, Glenveagh has submitted an estimated price list for the units ranging from a studio unit at €339,000, right up to a staggering €839,000 for a four-bedroom end of terrace property in the development.

In the correspondence to Meath County Council, Glenveagh outlines that the contents of the letter are indicative and are “intended to provide a reasonable estimate of the costs and values of the units based on construction costs and values prevailing at the time of the application”, adding that the information was purely for the purposes of facilitating the making of a planning application and would “ultimately be subject to possible amendment and formal agreement with Meath County Council on submission of the commencement notice in relation to the development of the site”.

Among the 159 units are 19 different property types- for example four studios of 32sqm are proposed at a cost of €339,000 each, 59 two bed terrace properties would have an estimated cost of €489k each and 23 three-bed end of terrace would come at an estimated cost of €589k. The most expensive property- a four-bed end of terrace of 152sqm- would come in at €839k.

“The final details of any agreement with the council regarding compliance with Part V, including agreements on costs and unit types will not be arrived at until after planning permission has been secured,” the correspondence notes.

The 757 residential units are proposed for a greenfield site approximately 1.6km north of Maynooth town centre which is part of a 96 hectare masterplan area known as the Moygaddy Lands (MP16). The recently submitted planning application forms phase 1 of these lands and includes delivery of the Maynooth Outer Orbital Route (MOOR). The 37.31ha site has a net residential developable area of 17.79ha.

The application site is bounded by the River Rye to the south, agricultural lands to the west and north and north-east, and Carton Demesne to the east. The proposed development will consist of the construction of a residential development ranging in height from one to five storeys to accommodate 757 residential dwellings made up of 523 houses, 100 duplex units and 134 apartments.

It also includes a retail unit of 361 sqm, a creche of 702sqm, a community hall/scout den of 221sqm, a playing pitch, a wastewater pumping station, public open space, and the north-eastern Maynooth Outer Orbital Route (MOOR).

There are 458 2-storey houses, 51 3-storey houses and 14 single-storey 'Later Living Units' made up of eight 1-bed and six 2-bed units. The 100 duplex units are accomodated in three -storey blocks and there are 134 apartments across three blocks

Construction of the north-eastern Maynooth Outer Orbital Route (MOOR) includes vehicular carriageways with turning lanes/painted medians; five signalised junctions (including a junction with the existing Moyglare Road (L22143) to the west of the site, a junction with the Kilcloon Road (L2214) to the north of the site, and a junction with the Moyglare Road (L22143) and R157 to the east of the site, and two junctions with internal proposed roads/bus turnaround facility) and one signal controlled crossing for pedestrians and cyclists to the east of the site.

There will be a bridge structure proposed over the Blackhall Little Stream of 25m in length, segregated cycle tracks and footpaths, five floating island bus stops (including shelters) and one bus turn-around, including terminus stop and a shelter.

The MOOR will connect to the Moyglare Hall Estate Road in Co. Kildare via a bridge structure over the River Rye, which is partly subject to consent via a separate and concurrent planning application to Kildare County Council.