MAYOR of Limerick John Moran opened a public exhibition of two modular housing prototypes at Arthur’s Quay Park this Thursday (September 4) to give the citizens of Limerick a preview of a plan he hopes can provide accommodation for more than 2,500 people.
The Mayor hopes the “meanwhile” homes, which he describes as ‘SMART’ (Short-term Modular Affordable Rental Transition) homes, will provide a short-term solution to the long-term housing crisis on Shannonside and accelerate the delivery of affordable, high-quality rental homes.
The modular units are designed for one to two-person households, which he says currently represent over half of Limerick’s housing need.
Each individual pre-fabricated 3D home is intended to be combined with a number of others to provide three to four-storey apartment blocks.
10 potential sites have been identified so far for these pre-fab modular homes in areas including as Janesboro, Hyde Road, Southill, Ballinacurra Weston, Mungret, and Moyross.
Responding to a question from the Limerick Post at today’s launch on whether the proposed locations might extend into the city centre or other Limerick suburbs, Mayor Moran said that the Council’s “criteria was what is State land”, taking into account what has “already been zoned residential for housing, and are there services in these areas. Because, in order to this quickly, we don’t want to be waiting for those services.”
“These 10 sites are about 2,000 units, and I’ve been describing this as ‘phase one’, so if this works as a pilot project in Limerick to bring down rents, we will keep doing it.”
The exhibition at Arthur’s Quay Park aims to get feedback from the people of Limerick and show the Council’s potential to deliver modular housing as a scalable, cost-effective solution. Â
However, Mayor Moran has been previously accused of “dropping the ball” with his modular housing plans by local councillors and residents in some areas proposed for the units.
Residents in Boro Park in Janesboro protested in July against the preliminary modular housing proposal for their area.
Fine Gael councillor and Janesboro native Sarah Kiely described the move at the time as a “fluffy proposal” that would “ram unsuitable dog boxes into amenities and green spaces” across the city.
Responding to these claims at the launch, the Mayor said he is encouraging people to visit the prototypes over the next eight weeks to see for themselves, adding that he believes people “will realise that these are actually very attractive homes for people to live in”.
Mayor Moran said the reasoning for choosing some of the proposed locations, including Janesboro, is to address a lack of amenities in such areas by providing more housing options.
“I think when some people think about modular homes, maybe they remember what pre-fabs were when we were back in school and they were cold. But these are not those, they are essentially going to be apartment blocks in the areas,” he said, adding that “we’re supposed to be building more apartment blocks”.
“In these communities, I hear all the time that they want more housing,” he further added.
The prototypes used for this demonstrator project were built using “modern methods of construction”, assembled and fitted out in one month offsite and were installed in Arthur’s Quay across this week.
The units have a 60-year design life, and are said to be matching traditional builds in both durability and safety.
It is hoped the first wave of 2,000 modular units would be ready for people to move into by the summer of 2027, just in time for the Ryder Cup in Adare.
In the meantime, members of the public are being invited to give their views on whether they would choose to live in these modular homes – which consist of less expensive 23 square-metre units, with an additional six square metre common area, or 32 square-metre self-contained units, which come with a higher price tag.
People can visit the prototypes at Arthur’s Quay from 12pm to 6pm on weekdays and 12pm to 4pm on Saturdays from September 5 to 13.
An online survey is also available at limerick.ie/smarthousing for people to share their thoughts. Staff on site will also aim to conduct in-person interviews to gather feedback for the duration of the eight weeks.
