Co-Living Concerns

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Proposed ‘co-living’ redevelopment of the former CBS school in Eblana Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin

In May it was reported that plans to develop a former Christian Brothers’ School on on Eblana Avenue in Dún Laoghaire into a five-story 208-bedroom ‘co-living’ development – with 42 bedrooms per floor – had been submitted to An Bord Pleanála by Bartra Capital.

The scheme offers residents rooms with “a pull-down double bed, a shower, lavatory, sink, kettle, mini-fridge and storage with communal kitchen and living areas for a minimum €1,300 a month”.

The proposals were given the go-ahead last month.

Earlier this month, Olivia Kelly, Dublin Editor at The Irish Times, reported that more student accommodation spaces were granted permission this year than any other type of housing under a ‘fast track’ planning system.

Ms Kelly reported that, in the first six months of 2019, An Bord Pleanala granted permission for 1,870 houses, 2,953 apartments, 414 build-to-rent units and 3,094 student bed–spaces.

The fast track system, introduced two years ago, allows applications for schemes to bypass the local authority decision phase.

Although it was scheduled to finish at the end of this year, the Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy – who last month admitted his regret over comparing a co-living space to a “very trendy, kind of boutique hotel type place” – is considering keeping the system in place for another two years.

Further to this…

Previously: Co-Living In Dún Laoghaire

Related: More student beds than apartments given go ahead under fast-track system (Olivia Kelly, The Irish Times, August 3, 2019)

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20 thoughts on “Co-Living Concerns

  1. Liam Deliverance

    The scheme offers residents rooms with “a pull-down double bed, a shower, lavatory, sink, kettle, mini-fridge and storage

    I wonder how these rooms will work over the longer term with regard to air quality, is damp, mold, mildew not going to be problem in such a small room. Also storage, will people gradually fill this small space with stuff creating a fire risk and generally causing the rooms to fall in to disrepair? Will noise be an issue, so many people coming and going, thin walls?, no night shift workers then? Will the communal kitchen cause stress and aggravation and make it unbearable and eventually unlivable? Yes € 1300 for all this is criminal.

    Anyway the landlord will be delighted at €270,400 a month, or €3,244,800 a year.

    1. ____

      Most of those things are issues of building design/materials.

      They’re common issues in cheaply converted Georgian flats but are easy to prevent in a new build/complete (gutting to the carcass) refurb.
      Excessive stuff/kitchen problems can happen anywhere.

  2. postmanpat

    €300 a month is okay for what your getting.. oh its €1300? . that cant be right. what moron would pay €1300 for a Japanese micro hotel/ halfway house for ex-cons?

    1. Qwerty123

      exactly, the council will end up renting most of these, at that price, will be cheaper than a hotel.

    1. Janet, I ate my avatar

      I think you’ll find they have a problem in price in relation to size
      not that hard to understand

      1. ____

        I think people are ok with the size and find the price burdensome in itself (I mean, if you work minimum wage you need somewhere to live, it shouldn’t be crazy to expect something of this size in your price-range).

        Will everyone be ok with the size? no, but there’s a whole lot of people who are keen on it and providing extra capacity anywhere will free up other accommodation.

        Of course what you say isn’t wrong either (even if you can afford it, nobody likes to feel like they’re being screwed), but it’s not the main issue.

      2. Otis Blue

        “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

        Upton Sinclair

  3. Bort

    The concept and size doesn’t bother me at all. Loads of properties like this in Europe, perfect for students but the price is criminal. My buddy has a room like that in converted Georgian in Rathmines 700 and that’s too much.

  4. eoin

    Here’s how you can bypass the resistance to the co-living applications.

    Fasttrack your student accommodation proposal.

    When it’s built, seek a licence to offer the accommodation to the general market during school recess (eg the summer holliers)

    Once you have your licence, you can handily expand it to apply all-year round and hey presto, you have co-living (that isn’t restricted to students).

    1. Andy

      Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight,

      Has anyone ever extended their out of semester licence to “year round” or are you just making stuff up?

      1. Rob_G

        Trinity’s dorms are rented out in the summer as budget acommodation for tourists; I’m sure all the other colleges with dorms in desirable locations are as well. I think eoin is letting his imagination run away with him again.

  5. Orla

    I read a report that the Bord made it a condition that these units all have to have kitchens. If that is the case then it effectively kills the “co-living scheme”. But I can’t find the planning decision to check this. Anyone else know if this condition exists?

  6. B9 Com From No

    I don’t have any problem with it either

    The way I figure is if idiots want to pay this much, let them at it.

  7. Mr. P

    There are people who will (begrudgingly) pay this amount as they see a value in it.
    If these people do not exist, the owners will have to reduce the price of the monthly rent to a level that the market will accept.

    Economics!

  8. Subeditor

    Except those co-living spaces are not intended for people who are even in this country yet – ex-pat under 30 y.o. visitors and their prized possessions (Beats headphones and Superdry jacket) working in employed by Facebook, etc.

    If there is no designated parking for e-scooters,
    I hope there is no issue with a load of Lime scooters dumped outside.

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