The Land Development Agency has appointed Walls Construction as the contractor for the development of 597 new homes at Shanganagh, Co Dublin, where work will commence in September.

The project is being delivered in partnership with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and will be reserved 100% to affordable and social homes.

When it’s built, this will be the the largest new public housing scheme in the state. The first completed homes are expected at the end of 2024.

The development will offer a mix of accommodation for single people, couples, and families, with 99 of the new homes to have three bedrooms.  Amenities will include communal green space, a playground, a creche, a convenience store and café.

The site occupies c.nine hectares near Shanganagh Castle.

In Association with

Shanganagh Park and Castle Farm and will be within 10 minutes’ walk of a proposed new DART station at Woodbrook and bus routes on the nearby Dublin Road (R119).

The LDA said that development will be certified to the ‘passive house’ low energy use standard.

The sustainability features include very low car parking provision (0.54 spaces per home), very high bicycle parking provision exceeding 1,300 spaces, and design features to make working from home easier.

LDA chief executive John Coleman said: “This is a an example of the LDA working in close partnership with a local authority to find new ways to deliver affordable homes on council land.

“We are particularly excited about the high environmental standards of the specifications. All homes will be delivered to ‘passive house’ standard, making them cheaper to heat for residents and reducing their carbon emissions."

The design calls for 34 charge points for electric cars, with all other resident spaces future-proofed for future connection, using pipes laid underground to the limited parking spaces.

The LDA said it is progressing its Project Tosaigh initiative, to deliver 5,000 new homes by unlocking land in private ownership that has full planning permission but where delivery has stalled due to financing and other constraints.

Proposals from potential partners are under consideration through a formal expressions of interest process, with an announcement of the first schemes expected shortly.

There’s much more detail on the Shanganagh development here.

Photo (l-r): John Coleman, Cllr Mary Hanafin, housing minister Darragh O’Brien and Eugene O’Shea, CEO Walls Construction. (Pic: Paul Sherwood/Coalesce)