A new €18m housing project - which will provide homes for over 180 people - is ready to be handed over to Kerry County Council. Located in Sruthán na Sailí, Dirreen, the project will provide 83 houses to people on Kerry County Council’s housing list.

It includes 22 two bedroom houses, 43 three-bedroom houses, six single-bedroom apartments and 12 two-bedroom apartments.

The new homes are within walking distance of a number of playing fields including Killarney Celtic Football Club and Legion GAA grounds. Local amenities such as shops and services are easily accessible too.

The project is a partnership between Clúid, Kerry County Council, the Department of Housing, the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) and Killarney-based company, Thermohouse.

“This innovative social housing project not only addresses the need for rapid-build homes but also creates greener, more energy efficient buildings, with lower fuel bills for our residents," James O’Halloran, Clúid’s New Business and Development Manager, said.

"Clúid is committed to working in partnership with our stakeholders in Kerry to provide high-quality housing. These 83 new homes will provide much-needed social housing and developments of this scale will continue to assist in alleviating some of the pressure placed on the private rented sector in Killarney too.”

Partnership

Clúid Housing’s vision is ‘a society where everyone has a great place to live’.
Clúid, a not-for-profit organisation, manages over 7,900 affordable, high-quality homes and provides housing management services for over 20,000 residents across the country. Clúid aims to achieve its vision by providing quality housing and services that enable people to create homes and thriving communities. The organisation is committed to delivering 3,000 new homes across Ireland before the end of 2022.

“Kerry County Council has a large Housing Programme across all delivery streams to provide homes for those in need of long term, secure housing options across the county. Kerry County Council has a very strong working partnership with Clúid Housing to provide homes for people on the Council waiting list. I am delighted to see this project come to fruition and to see these homes finished and people moving in. I hope that the new residents will be very happy and comfortable in their new homes,” Moira Murrell, Chief Executive of Kerry County Council, said.

€18m funding

The scheme was financed through a loan from the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) which Clúid will repay using rents paid by the residents.
“The HFA is committed to facilitating and supporting the successful delivery of social housing in Ireland. We are happy to have funded this fantastic development of 83 new homes in Killarney. We look forward to supporting Clúid and Kerry County Council to deliver even more new homes in the future,” said Housing Finance Agency, CEO Barry O’Leary.

The Dirreen scheme is comprised of 83 new homes including 22 two bedroom houses, 43 three-bedroom houses, six single-bedroom apartments and 12 two-bedroom apartments.
The new homes are within walking distance of a number of playing fields including Killarney Celtic Football Club and Legion GAA grounds. Local amenities such as shops and services are easily accessible too.

Sustainability

The development is one of Ireland’s largest sustainable social housing projects and was delivered in partnership with Killarney based company Thermohouse. Manufacturing took place off-site in Killarney at the Thermohouse factory using their innovative low energy modular build system.

“This development here in Killarney is a perfect example of Clúid’s commitment to delivering lower carbon and energy efficient housing for our residents, which are key goals in our soon to be launched Greening Strategy. Our aim, for 2030, is that all new Clúid homes will be 100% powered by renewable energy and will be built with at least 40% less carbon,” Energy and Environmental Manager for Clúid, Susan Vickers said.
The homes are airtight and free from any cold bridging. Each property has also been fitted with solar panels and a heat source pump which is a complementary system that provides ventilation, heat recovery and the production of domestic hot water. This enables the building to generate significant energy cost savings over its lifetime and reduce running costs for residents.
“We want every Clúid resident to live in a low carbon, energy affordable home, in a place that promotes positive well-being and sustainable living,” Susan added.

60 year guarantee

The future-proofed homes benefit from a minimum 60-year system design life. Once constructed, the system forms a monolithic reinforced concrete structure, fully wrapped in insulation. Thermohouse can construct up to 60% faster than traditional methods of construction with the modular nature of the construction system reducing labour requirements and streamlining the building process.
Thermohouse will also run a pilot project on four of the new homes where the company has installed 4KW solar panels and 4KW of battery storage which is expected to provide at least 50% of the energy requirements needed to run the homes. Via their online portal, Thermohouse will continue to monitor the output and share this information with Clúid to inform future sustainable development.
“Clúid’s development in Dirreen is a great example of the benefits of our complete low energy building system which is manufactured off site in our Killarney factory. These homes are future proofed, energy efficient and faster to construct. The approach we have to building homes in Ireland is changing and Thermohouse not only meets the EU’s nZEB requirements, but we also consistently exceed them. Being locally manufactured, we offer a lower carbon footprint for delivery in Ireland,” Michael Cronin, Managing Director of Thermohouse, said.

Clúid in Kerry

Clúid has a strong commitment to housing in Kerry, with over 360 homes now in management across the county. In addition to the new homes in Dirreen, Clúid recently delivered 32 new homes in Tralee, 20 new homes in Dingle, in partnership with Dingle Homes, and will shortly complete the renovation of Armagh House in Killarney providing another six homes to people on Kerry County Council’s housing list. Before the end of 2021, Clúid will deliver another 90 homes across Kerry and with another 72 going on site this year for completion in 2022.