ESB and the Land Development Agency (LDA) have reached an agreement on the transfer of a site at Wilton in Cork, which has the potential to deliver 350 homes.
The land being transferred by ESB is located at the energy utility’s Sarsfield Road site in Wilton.
The LDA has already appointed a design team for the project and is expecting to make a planning application for about 350 new homes in Q1 of next year.
The proposed homes will include a mix of affordable for sale houses and cost rental apartments. Subject to planning approval, construction could start in early 2026, with the first homes being delivered in late 2028.
The land involved is a 2.7 hectare greenfield site, next to the Wilton Shopping Centre and near existing residential neighbourhoods including Cardinal Court and Wilton Court.
The location is just over 4kms from Cork city centre, with great existing public transport links along Sarsfield Road and new improved pedestrian and cycle links proposed for the area. It is convenient to the South Ring Road and within short walking or cycling distance of Cork University Hospital, Munster Technological University, schools, shops and other local services.
The planned development of the site will add to the LDA’s ongoing activity in Cork. The Agency is already in the process of delivering 267 homes at the former St Kevin’s Hospital site in Shanakiel in Cork city and is developing 302 cost rental apartments at Horgan’s Quay in partnership with BAM and Clarendon Properties.
John Coleman, Chief Executive of the LDA said:
“This is another positive development for the LDA as the Agency continues to ramp up the delivery of affordable new homes. We are already under construction at two locations in Cork and we look forward to work starting on this well-located site. This planned development will have the potential to provide much-needed housing and new facilities in a desirable area alongside established communities and close to a range of existing amenities and services.
The LDA is actively working with state bodies to access state-owned land that has the potential to deliver thousands of homes. I would like to thank the ESB for making this land available and working closely with us to conclude its transfer. There is an opportunity for state bodies to create a lasting legacy by making land available and that is certainly true in this instance.”
Paddy Hayes, ESB Chief Executive said:
“We are very pleased that this ESB land at our Sarsfield Road site will make an important contribution to the development of much needed housing. We would like to thank the LDA for working with us and we look forward to seeing construction get underway on what promises to be an excellent development.”
As part of the planning process for the land, the LDA intends to undertake extensive public consultation and will publish framework and vision documents to facilitate this process ahead of any planning application being made.
The LDA is the State’s affordable housing delivery body. It is in the process of delivering more than 10,000 homes on State-owned or acquired land and over 8,000 through the Government’s Project Tosaigh initiative.
The Agency has existing planning permission for around 6,000 affordable homes on State-owned lands with many projects already under construction and others at advanced planning stage.
In addition to the direct delivery of homes on state-owned or other acquired land, the LDA is overseeing Project Tosaigh, an initiative whereby the agency steps in to facilitate the completion of stalled or unviable housing projects and then makes the homes available to renters or to buyers as either cost rental of affordable purchase.
The LDA produced the Report on Relevant Public Land, which advised the government of the potential to deliver 67,000 homes on 83 underutilised State-owned sites. The LDA also announced plans to purchase private sites with planning permission in the country’s five major cities.
ESB was established in 1927 as a statutory body under the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1927.
With a holding of 96.9%, ESB is majority owned by the Irish Government. The remaining 3.1% is held by the trustees of an Employee Share Ownership Plan. As a strong, diversified utility, ESB operates across the electricity market, from generation through transmission and distribution, to supply of customers in addition to using our networks to carry fibre for telecommunications.
As at year-end 2022, ESB has a regulated asset base of approximately €12.0 billion (comprising ESB Networks €9.7 billion and NIE Networks €2.3 billion), a 30% share of generation in the all-island market, and supply businesses supplying electricity and gas to over two million customer accounts throughout the island of Ireland and Great Britain.
As at June 2023, ESB Group employed almost 9,000 people.
ESB Networks has connected in excess of 100,000 homes and businesses to the electricity network over the past three years.
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