Laois council to sell discounted serviced sites

Laois County Council will soon advertise four serviced sites for €30,000 each. 

The serviced sites will be made available to anyone who is looking to build a home on them. They won’t be sold to developers or anyone not seeking to live on the site. 

Laois Assistant Senior Engineer at Housing, Trevor Hennessy said the council was examining other locations across the county as potential sites. 

He said the council will advertise four sites, each on just under .2 of an acre, in Ballyroan for €30,000 each.The true value of the sites is €35,000, he explained. The council has made the sites ready and will apply under the government’s Croí Cónaithe fund to recoup the cost to the council.  

“We will sell the site at a discount and then claim the money back,” he told the meeting. 

 Mr Hennessy said the council had carried out a survey which indicated the greatest interest in such sites was in the Abbeyleix and Portlaoise areas. 

Cllr Barry Walsh welcomed the move but asked what was left to be done by potential homeowners. 

Mr Hennessy said the Irish Water connection was the only thing that needed to be done. He estimated the cost at between €2,000 and €3,000 per site. 

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley asked what would happen if there was a lot of interest in the site. 

Mr Hennessy said if there is a large volume of interest the council may have to consider criteria such as local applicants but for now no criteria has been set and the sites are available to all bar developers. 

Cllr John Joe Fennelly expressed his belief that it was a great initiative. 

“I think it is great. I think you will have a lot of interest,” he remarked. 

Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald expressed her hope that the initiative would be successful and spreads to other areas of Laois. 

“I am looking forward to it and I think it is a good opportunity for young people,” she said. 

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She asked if there would be any restrictions on the type of dwellings. 

Mr Hennessy explained that the planning process would still be required for anyone seeking to build. He said the issue of house type would be an issue for the planners. 

Cllr Willie Aird also welcomed the initiative and see young people needed to be given some hope because he didn’t anticipate any affordable housing in Portlaoise. 

“We won’t have affordable housing and we won’t have serviceable sites and I do think we need to be looking at it,” he said. 

He asked if the scheme would qualify for use on derelict sites in the county. 

“If there is a structure on it it wouldn’t come under this,” said Mr Hennessy.