Ireland: Developer Bartra Capital is seeking a meeting with housing minister Darragh O’Brien as he undertakes a review on coliving schemes.
Bartra is challenging what it calls “sustained misinformed public commentary” about coliving developments.
O’Brien last year suggested coliving models should be banned during the housing crisis. Since taking up office he has committed to a review of all housing models before making a decision. More recently, Sinn Féin, the largest opposition party in the Irish parliament, published a bill that aims to ban coliving developments across the Republic.
Bartra is set to spend €130 million on four coliving sites in Dublin at Ballsbridge, Rathmines, Dun Laoghaire and Castleknock.
The D15 project on the former Brady’s pub site has been resubmitted after a first application was rejected in the face of local opposition. An Bord Pleanala has given consent for other coliving schemes, at Eblana Avenue in Dun Laoghaire and in Rathmines.
Bartra’s plan for a 111-bed development on Merrion Road is facing local opposition due to Covid-19 concerns and issues around neighbours’ privacy.
Bartra CEO Michael Flannery has written to O’Brien asking for a meeting to discuss the “important role” it says coliving can play in the housing market.
He stated: “I would also like to challenge the sustained misinformed public commentary that shared living has attracted.”
