COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

HEADED ITEM NO. 4

REFURBISHING OF FLATS AT PEARSE BROTHERS PARK

The Council’s housing stock contains 18 ‘maisonette’-type units at Pearse Brothers Park and a further 4 units at Palmer Park which adjoin the 18 units at Pearse Brothers Park. The 18 units at Pearse Brothers Park are over 50 years old and the 4 units at Palmer Park are over 40 years old. Therefore, these dwellings are some of the oldest in the Council’s social housing portfolio.

The four units at Palmer Park are contained within one stand-alone building. The 18 units at Pearse Brothers Park are dispersed throughout 3 ‘L-Shaped’ buildings which also include houses that are privately owned. The impact on these houses as a result of any refurbishment works would have to be considered carefully during the design phase.

Following a recommendation from the Council’s Architectural Services Department that the Pearse Brothers Park and Palmer Park estates be included in a refurbishment programme, the residents were consulted, by way of survey carried out in 2006, in order to ascertain their views on how any refurbishment programme would proceed. The residents indicated that their preference would be to be re-housed locally while the existing units were being refurbished and accommodation within the proposed Council developments at Glendoher and Kingston was identified for this purpose. However, due to the unavailability of capital funding, the works at Glendoher and Kingston have not progressed to tender stage. No approval was received from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government for new housing starts for social housing schemes within the county in 2009. 

The Council’s Architectural Services Department have indicated that the decanting of the tenants on a temporary basis while refurbishment works are on-going is a necessity. It is important to note the relative low-level casual vacancy rate of social housing in the Rathfarnham area (10 casual vacancies in 2009). Tenants may have to relocate temporarily to vacant housing stock in Tallaght or Clondalkin during the course of any works. Also the Council's Architectural Services Department note that the units may not meet current guidelines in respect of size and that the units may require modification either by extension or amalgamation. If the units are modified by amalgamation, the end result will be a reduced number of dwellings. Consequently, some of the existing tenants may need to be rehoused elsewhere on a permanent basis 

Currently, no authorisation has been granted by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to proceed with any refurbishment works at Pearse Brothers Park and no funding has been allocated by the Department for this purpose. The Council is still committed to refurbishing these flats subject to a funding source being identified. However, in light of the current financial circumstances facing the Council, it is not possible to source funding from the Council’s own resources for such a refurbishment programme at this current time. The Council did discuss the need for funding for the refurbishment of these dwellings with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government last year but no funding has been made available to date. The Council will continue to pursue the matter with the Department. 

It is not envisaged that the Council will be in a position to progress this matter until funding for the project is confirmed and an agreement is reached with the tenants in respect of the taking up of temporary accomodation elsewhere during the duration of any refurbishment works.

Another option open to the Council is the transferring of the tenants on a permanent basis to dwellings that will becoming available to the Council shortly in College Green in Terenure as a result of Part V. A consultation process with the tenants will be held to ascertain if the tenants are favourable towards this option. If all tenants are transferred from the maisonettes in Pearse Brothers/Palmer Park, the Council will then carry out an extensive feasability exercise to examine future uses for these buildings.

The Council will also continue to examine, whilst being cogniscant of the funding difficulties facing the Council, the possibility of carrying out works, that while falling short of a full refurbishment programme, would be designed to improve energy effiency in the dwellings with the aim of achieving a C1 Building Energy Rating.