Ireland’s leading housing charity wants NAMA funding to take over and complete some of the unfinished homes scattered around Waterford city and county.
Respond!, which is headquartered at Airmount in Waterford City, has called on the National Asset Management Agency to allocate a portion of the €5 billion ‘completion fund’ to housing associations to finish off abandoned or unoccupied estates, of which there are more than 2,800 nationwide.
In its pre-budget submission, Respond! argues it would represent better value for taxpayers’ money to subsidise non-profit associations like Respond! to complete such estates, rather than private developers.
Many housing associations are currently in negotiations to purchase some of these empty units and Respond! spokesperson Aoife Walsh says the social housing sector, with many years’ experience in designing and building integrated estates, can do the job in a timely, cost efficient manner.
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