Ciarán Cuffe

Lecturer in Planning City Councillor

Small Sites - Large Potential

Housing, homelessness and the Living City

• Scale of the Challenge

• New Living City Scheme

• Importance of small sites

• Potential of self-build

Housing List

• More than 42,000 people, including almost 16,500 children, are waiting to be housed by Dublin City Council, the highest number ever seeking social housing in the city.

• The city’s social-housing waiting list is made up of 21,592 applicants, 1,368 of whom have been on the waiting list for more than 10 years.

• Affordability and supply• Increase in local authority housing• Faster turn-around on empty units• Mature rental market with certainty

-Fair rent, fixity of tenure, freedom of sale• Sustainability and availability of inner city sites

Scale of the Challenge

New Financial Approaches

European Investment BankSemi-state pension fundsTrade UnionsCredit UnionsLong term leasesLimits to rent increases over CPIMature rental market

• The Living City initiative focuses on the regeneration of retail and commercial districts and encouraging people to live in the historic centres of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford.

• The aim of the Living City initiative is to bring life back into the heart of the relevant cities by offering tax relief for qualifying expenditure incurred on the refurbishment or conversion of certain buildings where conditions are met.

DIT

Living City Initiative

Residential Relief• The individual who incurs the qualifying expenditure (which must be equal to at

least 10% of the market value of the property prior to refurbishment/conversion) is entitled to a deduction from their total income for each of 10 consecutive years of an amount equal to 10% of the qualifying expenditure.

• The property must have been originally built for use as a dwelling prior to 1915. So, for example, an old derelict church which is to be converted into a dwelling does not qualify, since it was not originally built as a dwelling.

• The floor area of the property must be between 38 and 210 square metres (m²). If the property comprises an apartment contained within a larger building it is only the floor area of the apartment which is relevant, not the entire building.

Commercial Relief• The relief is given in the form of an accelerated capital allowance for "qualifying

expenditure" on refurbishment or conversion of premises within the special regeneration areas. Unlike the residential element of the relief, the commercial/retail element is not restricted to pre-1915 buildings. The capital allowance is given at the rate of 15% of qualifying expenditure for each of 6 years and 10% in year 7.

• In addition to the capital allowances which the claimant is entitled to in any year any unused allowances from previous years can also be used. Capital allowances are unused if there is insufficient income in any year against which the capital allowances can be set. At the end of the 7 years, unused capital allowances from earlier years can, in general, be carried forward and set against future income of the business. However, in the case of passive investors, it should be noted that any unused capital allowances under this scheme which are carried forward beyond the tax life of the building to which they relate, are immediately lost.

Living City Obstacles• Planning Permission• Disability Access certification• Fire Safety Certification• Project supervisor for design process Health and Safety

Plan• Environmental Health• Protected Structures Conservation Officer• Poor quality public realm• Multiple uses and ownership• 210 sq. m. limit for residential

Living City Opportunities

• One Stop Shop within Local Authority-Living Over the Shop, University of York

• Eliminate floor area limit• Improved design/management of public realm• Improved walkability, bikeability, liveability• Development of keynote sites: large and small

Large Vacant/Underused Sites

DIT

Small Acupuncture SitesDIT

Ryder's Row 150 sq. m. 4 stories

Ryder's Row 150 sq. m. Potential for 4 stories mixed-use building

Ryder’s Row, Dublin 1

Henrietta Place, Dublin 1

Sean McDermott Street, Dublin 1

Friary Avenue, Smithfield, Dublin 7

Address Size and descriptionHenrietta Place, Dublin 1 170 sq. m. contract car parking, Architectural Conservation Area. Owned by

Dublin City Council

Ryder’s Row/Capel Street, Dublin 1 148 sq. m. derelict palisade fenced site. Owned by Dublin City Council

Sean McDermott Street, Dublin 1 273 sq. m. Facade of temple-fronted granite Greek Revival Presbyterian church. Owned by Dublin City Council

Friary Lane, Smithfield, Dublin 7 77 sq. m. Derelict cafe, rubbish and surface car parking. Owned by Dublin City Council

Halston Street, Dublin 7 174 sq. m. One storey shed, concrete wall, some surface car parking. Owned by Dublin City Council.

North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7 537 sq. m. palisade fenced derelict site at corner with Church Street. Owned by Dublin City Council.

North King Street, Dublin 7 977 sq. m. Successful pop-up park after 30 years of dereliction, local authority housing plans for site. Owned by Dublin City Council.

Ardee Street/Cork Street, Dublin 8 71 sq. m. Prominent site adjacent to important Protected Structure. Ownership is unknown.

Clanbrassil Street, Dublin 8 236 sq. m. Overgrown site next to Vincent Street Flats beside South Circular Road. Owned by Dublin City Council

Digges Street/Aungier Street, Dublin 8 95 sq. m. Former Licensed Premises, attractive red brick building on prominent Corner Site. Owned by Dublin City Council

Fishamble Street, Dublin 8 153 sq. m. Currently site of ‘Dublin House’ project led by Dublin City Council. Owned by Dublin City Council

Francis Street, Dublin 8 198 sq. m. Derelict buildings, subject of Making a Modern Street Publication in 1990.

Kevin Street, Dublin 8 271 sq. m. Derelict since road widening in 1980s. Owned by Dublin City Council.

New Street, Dublin 8 211 sq. m. One storey derelict house recently demolished. Owned by Dublin City Council.

South Earl Street, Dublin 8 121 sq. m. Prominent palisaded fenced site in Liberties. Ownership is unknown.

Werburgh Street, Dublin 8 175 sq. m. Palisaded fenced site, former Derby Square. Owned by Dublin City Council.

Acupuncture Sites

• Site Area 3,888 sq. m. • Say 4 stories residential over

commercial/cultural• 15, 552 sq. m. @75 sq. m. +20% = 175

dwellings, say 350 people housed• Less dereliction, anti-social behaviour• Less long-distance commuting• Commercial opportunities etc.

Fishamble Street: ‘Dublin House’ Project

North King Street: Pop-up Park

Small Acupuncture Sites

• Provide clear title to local authority owned sites

• Acquire privately owned sites• Prepare sketch plans and agreements• Release for sale, subsidise if necessary• Encourage small builders, self-builders• Small site scan make a big difference

Self-Build in the Netherlands

Buiksloterham in Amsterdam Noord

Buiksloterham in Amsterdam Noord

• In the coming years, 3,500 homes and 200,000 m² of workspaces will be built in the former industrial area Buiksloterham in Amsterdam Noord. The development of the area will take place in an entirely new way, namely in a ‘circular’ fashion.

• This means that (building) materials and raw materials will be recycled as much as possible, there will be a lot of space for electric cars and that residents and companies in the area will generate their own energy. Building projects must fulfil sustainability requirements and the public space will be designed as sustainably as possible with, among other things, LED lighting and separate waste collection.

Self-Build in Amsterdam

“Current times call for a radically different approach: developments on a smaller scale that facilitate swift adaptation to changing demands. Self-build is a development model in which the future inhabitant plays an important part in the dwelling’s realization, and it dovetails perfectly with the current demand for fast, flexible and diverse development.”

City of Amsterdam

City of Amsterdam Do-it-yourself plots

Amsterdam Self-Build

• For the City of Amsterdam, self-build is about offering opportunities to develop and build your own home – taking personal control, realising your own ideas and choosing your partners yourself.

• The ambition is for a quarter of new-build housing to be self-build from 2016, in diverse forms that cater for an array of target groups.

Conclusions

• Increase in housing demand/rent /price• Significant State investment required• Innovative financial instruments needed• Unrealised potential of Inner City • Living City Scheme needs revision and hand-

holding• Importance of small sites• Potential for self-build

Further Information• Dublin Region Homeless Executive

www.homelessdublin.ie• Plan Amsterdam https://www.amsterdam.nl• Living City Scheme http://www.dublincity.ie/ Search for Living City• Revenue Commissioners

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/living-city-initiative.html/