Burnt out Portlaoise houses set for rebuild by Laois council

Laois County Council expects to spend upwards of €700,000 on the rebuilding of two Portlaoise homes that that were almost destroyed by fire.

The council says it intends to develop/refurbish the two 13 and 14 Lakeglen as a residential development. The buildings, which the council owns, were gutted by fire in April 2022 leaving two families homeless.

As a first step it has published a tender seeking an architect led design team to provide the full architectural, engineering and appropriate services to come up with a plans for the properties. The design team will be responsible for leading negotiations with insurance claims in relation to the  fire damage. 

The council says the design team will have to determine the extent of damage and route of construction.

Engineers have already told the council that one of the houses has suffered structural damage to the roof and a party wall while the roof has been completely destroyed on the second property which has also had windows burnt out. Nothing has been left salvageble on the first floor.

Laois County Council says it will prepare a feasibility study and Stage 1 application to submit to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) for Social Housing Investment Programme (SHIP) funding for the project's completion.

The tender document say the estimated budget is €669,680 ex VAT for the construction of the houses.

Gardaí launched an investigation into the cause of the blaze.