Cairn-NAMA joint venture to build 71 Dublin homes.

Homebuilding company Cairn Homes has announced a joint venture with the National Asset Management Agency to build 71 residential units in North Dublin.

Cairn said NAMA has a “minority interest” in the deal, which will see construction take place on a site adjoining its Parkside development, off the Malahide Rd.

Construction is due to commence immediately and be completed this year.

The development will have a gross sales value of €25m, of which €18.1m (representing 52 units) has already been secured through “strong pre-sales in January and February”.

Commenting on the joint venture, Cairn CEO Michael Stanley said: “This alternative operating model is a new departure for the company, which we hope will offer us further opportunities in the future.

“The strong level of pre-sales we have seen demonstrates the pent up market demand for well built, new homes in good locations.”

The company's full-year results for the year ended 31 December 2016 will be released on 9 March.

Davy's Colin Sheridan said although the joint venture is "reasonably small, it illustrates two important points.

"The first is that NAMA is open for business with developers like Cairn and, as the largest holder of residential development land in the country, this opens up future opportunities to partner.

"The second point is that the demand seen at the site has clearly been exceptional since the beginning of the year, with the continued shortage of supply and the recently launched Help-to-Buy scheme continuing to drive better conditions for selling homes."

Source: RTE  22/02/2017