New social houses to meet changing needs of an ageing local population

The latest additions to Westmeath County Council’s housing stock were designed to be environmentally friendly and to meet the changing needs of an ageing local population.

In one of his last public duties as cathaoirleach before he handed over to Cllr Frankie Keena, on June 14, Cllr Ken Glynn turned the sod on the latest phase at Ennell Court, which involves 31 new homes being constructed over the next year.

The €7.5m project is being delivered under the Rebuilding Ireland scheme and will provide 20 three-bedroom, two-storey family homes, one two-bedroom, two-storey home, eight two-bedroom, single-storey homes and two two-bedroom apartments, designed by Westmeath County Council’s in-house architectural team with the assistance of GDCL Engineers, Tom McNamara and Partners Quantity Surveyors and JAK Mechanical and Electrical Engineers, and built by Coolsivna Construction.

All houses are designed to nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB) standards and use the latest air-to-water heating technology. Each includes a wet room at ground floor suitable for assisted showering, and nine homes are designed to suit the needs of older persons or persons with disabilities. Twelve houses will face the Royal Canal Linear Park.

On the same morning, Cllr Glynn officially opened four new social housing dwellings at Bishopsgate Street in Mullingar, 12 at the Bun Daire estate in Kinnegad and 12 at Rahanine, Rochfortbridge.

The Bishopsgate Street development includes alterations and extensions to Church View, a protected structure in the ownership of Westmeath County Council, previously used as a satellite office. The project transformed the original building into two two-bedroom apartments and included the construction of two two-bedroom, single-storey houses at Downes Lane to the rear. Three homes are at street level with level access and assisted shower room. The homes are designed to nZEB standard. De Siún Architects led the design team from planning through to construction, while Davis Construction was the main contractor.

In Kinnegad, the new development is adjacent to the housing estate at Bun Daire, within easy walking distance of the town centre. It includes almost an acre of public open space. The houses are built to a high standard of finish and in terms of energy efficiency are nZEB standard.

All homes incorporate level access with wider front doors, ground floor wet-rooms, wider corridors, the elimination of radiators on the ground floor to facilitate easier access, and wider internal doors.

The design of the project was led by the council in-house architectural team. The consultant design team include ORS Engineering in the role of civil and structural engineers, Tom McNamara and Partners as quantity surveyors and JAK Engineering in mechanical and electrical engineering.

The council worked with Tuath Housing in the delivery of the 12 unit social housing development in Rochfortbridge – Tuath has worked with the council on a number of social housing projects with the council in recent years.

There are four two-bed bungalows and eight three-bed houses. All four bungalows have wheelchair accessible wet-room bathrooms and ample circulation space throughout. These new homes have been funded via private finance from the Housing Finance Agency and a loan from the Dept of Housing. The average price of a home in the Rahanine development was €149,000.

Tuath already manage 164 homes throughout the county and a further 64 homes in construction, including 30 at Royal Canal, Ardmore Road, and 14 at Farran. Tuath currently have some 6,900 homes in management nationwide, and are on course to deliver 1,800 homes in 2021.

Daragh O’Sullivan, chair of Tuath’s voluntary board of directors, said: “We are delighted to be once again working with Westmeath County Council to provide new social homes in the county. We already manage 164 homes in the area and have a strong pipeline of more than 90 new homes for delivery throughout the county, demonstrating the ongoing effective working partnership between Tuath and the council.”

Barry O’Leary, CEO of the Housing Finance Agency (HFA), added: “The HFA is delighted to support Tuath with this development in Rahanine, which brings 12 homes for families in Rochfortbridge. We look forward to continuing to work with Tuath and other approved housing bodies to sustain the tremendous growth we have seen over the past few years.”

Director of service at Westmeath County Council, Mark Keaveney, said that Westmeath County Council was delighted to work with Tuath Housing in the delivery of this new social housing development in Rochfortbridge.

“Tuath is an important partner for the council in the delivery of social housing throughout the county with a number of developments such as this already completed and a number in the pipeline for future years,” Mr Keaveney said.