Up to 470 new homes are to be built in Inchicore, Dublin.

The council-owned Emmet Road site has been chosen as the location for Dublin's first major cost rental development.

While the final tenure mix will be decided by the Council and informed by the detailed site development process, proposals include delivering 140 social housing homes, with the remaining 330 homes predominantly provided under cost rental.

The not for profit rental mechanism is separate to social housing. Under cost rental, rents are based on covering costs such as construction, debt financing, management and maintenance and incorporating a sinking fund, but with a minimal profit margin included.

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Welcoming the plans, Lord Mayor of Dublin Nial Ring said: "I welcome the proposal to develop the Emmet Road lands for mixed income housing and community facilities.  The City Council is acutely aware of the pressures in the city's residential property market and the need for new models of housing delivery for all its citizens."

The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy, said: "I signalled my intent early into my tenure as Housing Minister, to do something for those most affected by the housing affordability gap that has emerged from the lost decade of little or no supply of new homes and rising demand as more people return to work, start families and so on.

"In that regard, low and moderate-income renters in Dublin and other cities in Ireland often face particular housing affordability challenges, and the Government is committed to addressing this supply gap as part of its package of affordability measures.

"Cost Rental could be a game-changer for the rental market, as it has been in many other cities we have looked at. Taking profit, land, and other costs out of the equation and securing competitive EIB financing means that much more affordable rent can be achieved on publicly-owned lands. I am determined to see this major project delivered and for more to follow on other key State sites."

(LM)