Welcome to Housing Insights, the podcast that cuts through
the complexity of housing in Ireland. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just curious about the topic, join hosts David Silke and Roslyn Molloy as they profile the vital work of the Housing Agency.
Our mission is simple: to deepen your understanding of the
Irish housing landscape and give clear, expert knowledge straight from the source on critical topics.
All content for Housing Insights is the property of The Housing Agency and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Welcome to Housing Insights, the podcast that cuts through
the complexity of housing in Ireland. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just curious about the topic, join hosts David Silke and Roslyn Molloy as they profile the vital work of the Housing Agency.
Our mission is simple: to deepen your understanding of the
Irish housing landscape and give clear, expert knowledge straight from the source on critical topics.
In this episode of Housing Insights, host Roslyn Molloy explores the growing potential of Community-Led Housing (CLH) in Ireland. She is joined by Hugh Brennan, founder and CEO of Ó Cualann Co-Housing Alliance, an organization committed to building communities, not just houses.
Hugh shares his background in construction and humanitarian work, which led him to focus on Ireland's affordability crisis. He explains that CLH is an umbrella term for models like cooperatives, co-housing, and community land trusts, characterized by collective decision-making and shared control. Drawing on Ó Cualann’s first development in Ballymun, Hugh discusses the goal of achieving affordability in perpetuity, a major challenge in Ireland due to banks' historical reluctance to finance schemes with restrictions on onward sales linked to wage inflation. He emphasizes that while the majority of Irish people may be individualistic, there is a 20% segment of the population interested in CLH, including Irish-speaking, LGBT, older people, and self-sufficiency groups.
The conversation highlights key barriers, lack of a central CLH Hub for support, access to land, and specialized finance and points to European examples and existing state schemes like STAR (Secure Tenancy Affordable Rental) as potential pathways forward. Ultimately, Hugh’s message is that CLH is a safe investment, essential for tackling the worldwide "financialization of housing," and must be supported by the state to deliver social and affordable homes outside of the private market.
Links and Resources
Guest Contact (Ó Cualann
Co-Housing Alliance):
Hugh Brennan: hugh@ocualann.ie
General Info: info@ocualann.ie
Introducing Community-led Housing: Introducing Community-led Housing
Community-led housing as Affordable Housing: Community-Led Housing as Affordable Housing
Community-led Housing for Age Friendly Living: Community-led Housing for Age Friendly Living
State Support for Community-led Housing: State Support for Community-Led Housing
Housing Agency News and events page: Community-Led Housing Webinar Series | The Housing Agency
Self Organised Architecture roadmapping reports: Roadmapping a Viable
Community-Led Housing Sector for Ireland
Darinke Czischke’s book Together Towards Collaborative Living: Together: Towards Collaborative Living | TU Delft OPEN Books
Housing Insights
Welcome to Housing Insights, the podcast that cuts through
the complexity of housing in Ireland. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just curious about the topic, join hosts David Silke and Roslyn Molloy as they profile the vital work of the Housing Agency.
Our mission is simple: to deepen your understanding of the
Irish housing landscape and give clear, expert knowledge straight from the source on critical topics.
