DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL will on Monday ask councillors to let it start selling refurbished apartments at Priory Hall.
The council agreed to take over the abandoned Donaghmede complex after a deal was reached with residents in October 2013.
The residents had been ordered to leave two years previously by the council, after fire officers declared the complex dangerous and a fire-trap.
Under a deal brokered by the Taoiseach’s department and the Department of the Environment, it was agreed that former residents would have their debt written off.
The council has spent €27 million revamping the apartments and will look to begin recouping some of that by selling the units.
However, Anti-Austerity Alliance councillor Michael O’Brien isn’t happy with how the apartments are planned to be distributed.
In total, 60 of the 180 units will be used for social housing. Of that, nine will come in the first batch of 27 sold.
O’Brien feels those numbers are inadequate.
“The homes will be sold on the open market, so regular buyers will be competing with investors and vulture funds looking to rent them out. We have 25,000 people on a housing list – we need accommodation now.
“This isn’t just about Priory Hall, there are council-owned sites around the city that are being sold to private investors while there’s a housing crisis going on.”
The council will put the issue to a vote on Monday.
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