LAST UPDATE | 6 May

THE PLANNED REGENERATION of Dublin city’s Oliver Bond flats has been scrapped after the Department of Housing withdrew funding for the project.

The flats in the Liberties in Dublin 8 were built in 1936. There are around 1,200 people living in the nearly 400 flats that comprise the housing development. Many of those in the flats have been living there for generations.

For years, residents have been dealing with persistent issues relating to the quality and safety of their homes, including damp and mould.

A 2024 study found that residents of the Oliver Bond flats – also known as Oliver Bond House – in Dublin city are 1.9 times more likely to have asthma as other patients in the same GP practice as them. 

The council sought departmental approval for the regeneration of the flats.

In May 2025, housing minister James Browne told Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin in reply to a parliamentary question that the regeneration was a “priority” project for Dublin City Council’s housing department and had his government department’s full support.

However, funding for this project has now been withdrawn.

The department said in a statement that it “full supports” the regeneration of older flat complexes like Oliver Bond – but it “cannot support the significant reduction of homes as proposed by DCC”.

The three blocks proposed to be regenerated would see 74 flats turned into 46 as some smaller flats would be consolidated into larger apartments. The department said it would represent a 38% reduction of homes that are all currently housing tenants.

“The cost of such reductions do not represent value for money and would leave 28 households without a home,” a department spokesperson said.

The council is currently working on a proposal to build new homes on the adjoining Bridgefoot Street site and also to demolish three of the Oliver Bond blocks, the spokesperson said.

“This will afford the council the opportunity to provide the needed larger 3-bedroom homes to accommodate overcrowding issues at Oliver Bond House.”

The move has been described as a “devastating blow” to the local community.

Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins said she is “extremely disappointed and dismayed” by the decision, flagging that it comes not long after Dublin City Council voted to increase the rent for social housing under its remit.

“Everyone knows that the conditions in Oliver Bond flats are completely unacceptable – families are living in homes that are not fit for purpose. This has been going on for far too long, and to now revoke funding for regeneration is simply indefensible,” Cummins said.

She called on the housing minister to engage with residents and reconsider the decision.

Labour’s housing spokesperson, TD Conor Sheehan, raised the matter with Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the Dáil this afternoon.

Sheehan described the decision as a “breach of trust” and described the issues surrounding mould, damp, and related asthma in the flats.

“I’m calling directly on the Taoiseach, the minister for Housing and his department to stop interfering in estate regeneration because of an arbitrary obsession with units,” he said.

The news “also leaves questions for the Pearse House flat regeneration project”, he continued.

“The disrepair of homes in respect of which Dublin City Council is the landlord is deeply concerning, and it cannot be allowed to fall off the political agenda.”