Sifon Abasi Ambrose and his fiancée Camilla had been living in a shared apartment but with their wedding coming up, were eager to find their own home.
“We started looking out for apartments we could live in and it was really expensive what was on the market,” he said.
He described it as “quite an emotional” time when they eventually got the keys to their home after making an application to housing association Respond, and are now among its cost rental tenants at Seven Mills in Clonburris, a new town development in Dublin.
Mr Abasi Ambrose moved to Ireland five years ago to study at Dublin Business School and works with a financial institution as an analyst.
RM Block
“When we got to see the area of the house, we were in love with it at first sight. It was a new build, it was warm, the neighbours are friendly. There’s a community of people there. I have friends all around. That’s a good change,” he said at the launch of Respond’s 2024 annual report on Tuesday.
“Respond have been able to give me the peace, the community and a fantastic living experience in Dublin.
“In Seven Mills, I feel that I’ve got that community because my neighbours have learned new languages and new cultures. I even got a kebab a few days back from my neighbour who was having a party.”
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Respond is Ireland’s largest construction-led Approved Housing Body (AHB) and service provider. This year it is set to deliver 972 new social and cost rental homes, its highest annual output to date.
“These are very much on target in terms of delivery. So, we’d feel quite positive that those homes are on track,” said Niamh Randall, its director of strategy and public affairs.
“The delivery numbers are looking very positive and very good in terms of it. What we’re seeing is approved housing bodies are very, very much part of the solution in terms of Ireland’s housing crisis,”
This is Respond’s fourth consecutive year of growth in its annual delivery figures. In 2024, it delivered 885 new social and cost rental homes, a 28 per cent increase on 2023 and account for about 6 per cent of all new social homes built nationally.
The body manages 8,510 properties for over 19,000 tenants.
Minister for Housing James Browne, who launched the report, said: “In relation to housing delivery, we’re keeping a very close eye on every aspect to it, we know we have to get a step change.
“That’s why we’ve made significant decisions around affordability and viability with recent announcements of viability in the budget and also ensuring that we get those changes needed to help protect renters as well.”
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