A sod turning ceremony has taken place to mark the beginning of construction on a landmark public housing scheme in Co Dublin.

Work has begun on the project at Shanganagh, Shankill, which will involve the development of 597 homes, with the first being available by the end of 2024.

The homes at Shanganagh will be 100% affordable, with 51% cost rental (306 homes), 15% affordable purchase (91 homes) and 34% social housing (200 homes). The development will offer a mix of accommodation suitable for single people, couples, and families with 99 of the new homes to have three bedrooms.

Councillor Mary Hanafin, An Cathaoirleach, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, An Taoiseach Michaél Martin, Frank Curran, Chief Executive, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien TD and John Coleman, Chief Executive, LDA all turned out to mark the project milestone.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, said: "Shanganagh is exactly the kind of development we envisaged when the LDA was established - a State-owned developer and homebuilder, building new housing on publicly-owned lands. There is a strong mix of different housing types including social housing for people on the housing list, cost-rental properties for low- and middle-income workers living in Dublin, and affordable housing for families to purchase.   That's the right approach. It's really encouraging to see significant progress being made and the start of the largest public housing scheme in the State. It's another important step to achieving our target of building 40,000 new homes a year by the end of the decade."

-- Advertisement --

Frank Curran, Chief Executive, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, added: "We are committed to delivering homes for people at all income levels within the county and this development will offer people an attractive place to live that is close to transport links and supported by a wide range of local amenities. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the LDA to complete these homes and have people living in them as soon as possible."

The development will be the largest residential scheme certified to achieve the 'passive house' low energy use standard which has significantly lower energy consumption and associated heating costs compared to other new builds. Sustainability features include very low energy demand, low car parking provision (0.54 spaces per home), high bicycle parking provision of over 1,300 spaces, and design features to make working from home easier. Shanganagh is well served by existing public transport on the N11 and will be within 10 minutes' walk of the proposed DART station at Woodbrook as well as a new Bus Connects route. The development will be served by a range of amenities including extensive communal green space, a playground, a crèche, a convenience store and café. Walls Construction was appointed lead contractor on the project in June after a public tender process.


Darragh O'Brien T.D, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, said: "I'm delighted to see works begin here in Shanganagh, with much needed social and affordable homes being delivered on State land. The homes built here will be of an extremely high quality, serviced by a host of amenities, providing safe and secure homes for life. The LDA is central to our Housing for All plan and are working closely with our Local Authorities and my Department to deliver social and affordable housing in significant sites across our cities and towns. I want to commend them for bringing this project to fruition and I look forward to seeing this project progress."


John Coleman, CEO of the LDA, commented: "Breaking ground here at Shanganagh is a very important moment for the LDA in delivering on our mission to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing on State land. We are particularly proud of the scale of this scheme, which will be the largest direct-build public housing scheme in the State in recent years. The project's design is rooted in sustainability and energy efficiency and will deliver a large quantity of much needed affordable and social housing to the area."

Shanganagh is the latest LDA project which, this year, has sought permission for over 2,300 homes around the country, 100% of which will be affordable and social. It is also an important milestone in progressing Housing for All, delivering on the LDA's mission to unlock state land to deliver large-scale affordable housing projects around the country.