Home for Life, the first private operator to be authorised by the Minister for Housing to operate a Mortgage to Rent Scheme here, has awarded a five-year contract to O’Dwyer Real Estate Management for the wide range of property services it will require to run the scheme...
Depending on the number of homeowners who are approved for the scheme, the contract could be worth up to €30m over the five years.
Mortgage to Rent is a voluntary scheme available to consumers who currently reside in a home but are unable to pay the mortgage. The scheme enables the property to be sold to Home for Life and rented back to the State through the relevant local authority, which sublets it back to the original homeowner at an affordable rent on a long lease.
Irish owned and managed HFL which was established in 2018 has now partnered with O’Dwyer Real Estate Management, one of the country’s leading property and facilities management companies, to provide the valuations, surveys and inspections it will need to operate the scheme. O’Dwyer will also arrange and oversee any remediation works which need to be carried out on the properties.
Martin Gilsenan, Head of Facilities Management at ODREM, Siobhan O’Dwyer CEO of ODREM and Paul Cunningham CEO of HFL, pictured at a recent forum on innovative solutions for social housing in Ireland
Paul Cunningham, CEO of HFL pointed out the attractions of the scheme for eligible homeowners. “Before a homeowner joins the scheme, any necessary repairs will be carried out to make it compliant with local authority rental guidelines. In addition, the scheme, through O’Dwyer will provide tenants with 24/7 property maintenance support on behalf of the local authority. Of course, if a family’s fortunes improve, they will have the opportunity to buy back the property in the future” he said.
According to Siobhan O’Dwyer, CEO of ODREM, this area has a lot of potential and it is one they are delighted to become involved in. “This scheme is all about giving families a new start, but most importantly giving them that new start in the comfort and security of their own homes.”
“We recently appointed Martin Gilsenan as our Head of Facilities Management and he will play a key role in ensuring the smooth operation of the scheme. Martin worked for the London and Quadrant Housing Trust for five years where he was responsible for the effective maintenance and facility management of approximately 6,500 residential units across North East London and a repairs budget of £3m plus.”
Participants must be eligible for social housing to partake in the scheme. With around 28,000 families in unsustainable debt, HFL expects between 500 and 1,000 cases to be completed before the end of 2019.
About O’Dwyer Real Estate Management
ODREM, which is based in Sandyford , was established by Siobhan O’Dwyer over 30 years ago. During that time O’Dwyer has overseen its expansion from a firm which was primarily focused on property/facilities management to one which now encompasses a broad range of services including asset and investment management. The company, which employs 70 people, has annual turnover in excess of €6m.
Article Published: 16/04/2019