Housing bodies should be used more to deliver homes in Kildare, says local reps
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Councillors have called for greater use of Approve Housing Bodies to help deliver social housing in Kildare.
Fianna Fáil councillors David Trost and Brian O’Loughlin brought forward a motion at the most recent full meeting of Kildare County Council proposing that ‘as an incentive to housing supply, the council selects Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) that are committed to building programmes to partner with in the management of turn-key opportunities in social housing’.
Director of services Annette Aspell issued the council’s written response, which stated that with support from the local authority, AHBs delivered 114 turnkey homes in 2025. So far in 2026, they have delivered 107 homes, and a further 270 homes are expected to be delivered before the end of the year.
The report said that the council already works closely with AHBs across the county. Officials regularly meet and communicate with these organisations to discuss housing projects and ways of increasing the supply of homes.
The council said it will continue working with AHBs and providing support to help increase the delivery of housing across the county.
Cllr Trost told the meeting that some AHBs are more efficient than others. He said he would like to see a mix of direct building projects and turnkey developments, and that housing is not being built as fast as it should be.
Cllr O’Loughlin expressed his view that AHBs are not being fully utilised. He noted Sophia Housing’s development of 24 units in Rathangan and said he wants to see more of this across the county.
Ms Aspell told the meeting that the council “is extremely active in terms of our engagement with Approved Housing Bodies” and said that there is more AHB activity in Kildare than in the majority of counties.
She went on to say that AHBs have built properties in the county on council land. The council gives land to AHBs because they are able to deliver social housing “in theory, quicker” than the council.
She cautioned that the council does not have a land bank that will continue to facility this arrangement, and said that “if AHBs are going to build in the county, they’re going to have to compete in the market the same as we do and the same as private developers do”.
Cllr Trost said that building-versus-turnkey statistics would be useful for future reference.
