Working group set up for ‘Lego-kit’ homes in Limerick
Modular housing is a key pillar of mayor's plan to tackle housing crisis
MAYOR of Limerick John Moran has set up a working group to advance one of his signature policies of building 1,000 modular homes locally.
The first citizen’s group are looking to Bristol, France and Denmark among other locations to see how they have delivered these rapid-build homes.
“It’s also to see where we can get the people who have done this before, and work out what the cost of it will be,” said Mayor Moran of the group made up of senior council executives.
Portions of State-owned lands in Limerick have been identified which have access to electricity, water, lights and roads.
These living spaces are being described as Smart Homes - meaning ‘short-term, modular, affordable, rental transition homes’, said Mayor Moran.
“The idea of these is to get one-bedroomed units, almost like a Lego-kit which we can stack two and three high. Put up the right kind of access, put some basketball courts in them, and make communities out of them,” he said.
Mayor Moran believes that even if the houses are being put on publicly-owned lands, they can be rented out into the private sector.
“Nobody would be asked to live there forever. But you might move in there because you’re coming to Limerick for two years. You might rent a place affordably in order to eventually buy your own home. Or you want to get into social housing, or right size somewhere else. We should put enough of these into the market in Limerick, and it will mean rents will come down,” said the mayor as part of an in-depth interview.
Mayor Moran says he wants to effect a change of mindset around housing regulations from government.
“Almost all of the regulations are designed in Ireland on the assumption that you are living in that space forever. We need to acknowledge if you come to Limerick as a student for nine months, or you come to work in, say, Verizon, you’re not arriving with a container of furniture. You’re probably arriving with a couple of suitcases. Your needs for storage are entirely different than they would be if you’re spending 20 years living in it,” he said.
He expects these modular homes to be “desirable” rental spaces.