The Land Development Agency and Dublin City Council have secured permission to build 146 new homes in Coolock, Dublin 5.

The project represents the first time that a Section 179A temporary exemption has been used for an LDA project, a scheme that allows local authorities to fast-track urgently needed social and affordable housing developments on state-owned land zoned for residential use.

The Cromcastle development will include 13 social and 133 cost-rental homes, as well as new community, cultural and open spaces. The 1.7-acre site, owned by the DCC, is located opposite the Northside Shopping Centre.

Construction is due to start by the fourth quarter, and the LDA has already issued a tender for a contractor to undertake the work. Permission for the Cromcastle development was secured by the LDA and DCC under a new planning provision introduced for local authorities by Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien in March of last year.

The development will include apartments, public open spaces and communal amenities with new landscaping, a new public plaza and green spaces to enhance biodiversity, the LDA said.

Cromcastle is one of several developments being delivered by the LDA and DCC. Planning permission for 543 homes in St. Teresa’s Gardens in Dublin’s south inner city was granted last year, while permission for 708 homes in Cherry Orchard Point in west Dublin has recently been sought. A fourth partnership project in Bluebell in Dublin 12 is in the pre-application stage.

“This is a key site in a great area where there is a significant demand for affordable housing, so we are excited to be able to get construction underway,” LDA Head of Property Phelim O’Neill said in a statement.

“Cost rental is a really important product and the LDA is constantly working to increase supply. These homes are aimed at renters who do not qualify for social housing but who can’t afford to rent at full market prices. The rent for these homes is set at least 25% below market rates and we have experienced significant demand for the schemes we have already launched.”

The LDA is the state’s affordable housing delivery body. It is in the process of delivering more than 10,000 homes on state-owned land and over 8,000 through the government’s Project Tosaigh.