No ‘Ready to Build’ sites made available in County Cork

Cork County Council has itted that no sites have been made available under the government’s Ready to Build scheme, three years after its launch.

Under the Ready to Build scheme, introduced in 2022, the public can buy a site from a local authority to build a home on. The sites are sold in towns and villages at reduced prices of up to €30,000 below the market value.

At a recent meeting of the Southern Committee of Cork County Council, Social Democrats councillor for Cork East Eamon Horgan asked for information on the sites that have been made available to date and are forecast to be developed in 2025 and 2026 under the scheme.

The council’s housing directorate said: “No sites have been made available to date under the Ready to Build scheme. There is no suitable land within the Council’s existing landbank for the provision of sites.

“Securing land that might be developed and made available will form part of the council’s land acquisition strategy.”

Mr Horgan, an engineer with experience in construction, expressed deep disappointment at the lack of action, saying: “It’s a disappointing response — three years into the scheme and zero sites offered. It has clearly failed to date. I was hopeful and optimistic when this scheme was announced and now it’s frustration and annoyance.

He explained that the Ready to Build scheme, introduced to empower individuals and groups to build their own homes, was heralded as a transformative solution for tackling housing shortages, especially in rural and semi-rural communities, but with no land yet allocated under the initiative by this council, “faith in its potential is quickly eroding”.

“It’s the human cost that’s being overlooked in all these failed schemes proposed by the government,” Mr Horgan said. “Homelessness. Mental health issues. Families having children later in life due to the uncertainty and cost of housing. Society is being upended.

“We need to get serious. We need to start thinking outside the box from a council level and national level in how we are going to get these schemes moving.”

Social Democrats spokesperson for housing, Dublin TD Rory Hearne, also criticised the lack of movement on the scheme, saying: “It’s a housing emergency and local authorities should be using every lever in their power to deliver housing.

“We do know local authorities are limited by a lack of staff and resources to deliver, and the government must provide sufficient funding to ensure local authorities have the capacity to deliver.”