Work on a new social housing estate in Clifden has taken a step forward, with a contract now signed between the county council and contractor.
Galway County Council has chosen Carey Building Contractors for the construction of a 26 unit social housing project on Hospital Road, Clifden.
The new estate, to be named ‘Gort na gCloch’ will be comprised of 6 one-bed, 7 two-bed, and 5 three-bed houses, and 8 apartments.
The overall cost of this social housing estate, including all work from site investigation, the work of the design team, and the construction, is expected to come to €7 million.
“Completion of this project in 2021 will see provision of 26 new high-quality homes,” county council officials said.
“Most notably, two significant and historic buildings will be taken from a state of dereliction and brought back into use as housing for the local community, at a time of unprecedented need”.
Planning permission for this social housing development was first granted in October 2019.
Tender documents for this project were published on February 12, shortly before the COVID-19 lockdown, and due to the effects of the pandemic the tender period was extended.
Heritage conservation works will take place on the old School and Laundry buildings on the site, which will contain the 8 apartments in the plans.
It’s expected that the project will take a total of 20 months to complete, with 18 units to be delivered in late 2021, and the remaining 8 coming in 2022.
Speaking at the contract signing, Senior Engineer Rachel Lowe welcomed Carey Building Contractors and wished them success in the “safe and speedy” completion of the project.
The county council has said that further “significant announcements” on several housing initiatives are “imminent”.
