Minister 'can't pass the blame' for new social homes switched to private market, Ó Broin says

SINN FÉIN HAS criticised the Minister for Housing’s response after the developer behind a new social housing estate in Carlow switched almost half the new homes to the private market weeks before they were expected to become available.

James Browne said it looked like people were promised homes “when the contracts weren’t finalised with the developer, and the developer made an authoritative decision”. 

But Eoin Ó Broin said Browne “can’t simply pass the blame in this instance” and that the question “has to be how do we make sure this doesn’t happen again”.

Three- and four-bedroom houses at Foran’s Way in Tullow have been listed for sale online, leaving only two-bed homes for Carlow County Council.

According to the local authority, the change came about due to rising costs involved in the €14 million project.

Residents who have been waiting for years on the council housing list expressed fury at the “absolute farce” around the handling of the handover of the units.

Many only learned that 22 out of 48 homes were making their way to the private market after seeing adverts for their sale online. One resident told The Journal that it felt like they were being overlooked, adding that it was “so disheartening”.

When asked about the matter by The Journal on Tuesday, Housing Minister James Browne said it looked like people were promised homes “when the contracts weren’t finalised with the developer, and the developer made an authoritative decision”.

“If there’s any legal issues, that’s obviously a matter between Carlow, the local authority, and the developer itself. But I do want to see local authorities getting into contracts at an earlier stage,” he said. 

He also said he wanted to see local authorities “stepping up to the mark” and building homes rather than buying turnkeys, which “are not the best value of money for the public purse”.

He added: “We’ve seen the consequence here for these people who were promised homes not getting the homes that they deserve. What I’d be saying to Carlow is that we need to get these homes for these people.

These people deserve their homes, and let’s get a pathway to building these homes now as quickly as possible, because the funding is not an issue for those people.

‘Huge disappointment’

Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin told The Journal that Browne “can’t simply pass the blame in this instance”.

“There has been huge disappointment for people on the waiting list who thought they were about to get their forever home and may now be waiting far longer in accommodation that isn’t suitable for their family, adding to the acute distress,” he said.

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Ó Broin said that part of the problem is the overreliance on private builders. “It’s not best the way to deliver social and affordable housing, as can be seen here,” he said.

“That’s not to say that we should not do model, but we should look at councils ‘future funding’ developments so that they can be paid for in stages rather than purchasing them as turnkey housing at the end. That would insulate them better from rising costs.”

He said if there are rising costs in a project, “we need to know when that was raised and if the Department of Housing is making a decision on funding in good time”.

“There is often too much bureaucracy and red tape in trying to access new funding where costs have risen for a builder.”

Local council ‘the decision makers’

In a statement to The Journal, a spokesperson for the Department of Housing said all funding it provides to approved housing bodies (AHBs) to support social housing is made available through local authorities, who are “the decision makers in relation to the suitability of a proposed social housing project”.

They said the department issued funding to Co-operative Housing Ireland (CHI) for the 48-property project in October 2023, with revision to that funding approved in August 2025.

“The Departmental funding provided was for a turnkey development at a fixed price between the developer and the AHB,” they said. 

They added that delivery of the homes is being progressed through CHI “with all contractual and commercial arrangements sitting between the developer, BHA Construction, and the AHB CHI”.

“The Department continues to engage with the Local Authority and CHI on this development.”

Cooperative Housing Ireland told The Journal that it would “work constructively” with partners on the project to “deliver as many social-rental affordable homes as possible”, but declined to comment further.

The controversy raises questions over a model of social housing delivery that sees councils contract projects out to private builders rather than directly building. Critics of the system say it can often leave local authorities with a weakened hand when dealing with partners on a new development.

A recent housing conference in Croke Park heard that the costs involved in the building of new homes have increased by up to €20,000 due to the US war with Iran.

In Carlow, there are over 600 applicants on the housing list with approximately 130 applicants based in the Tullow area.

With reporting from Eoghan Dalton and Christina Finn

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