Mayor of Limerick John Moran has said he plans to deliver 2,000 modular-home units across the city over the next two years to tackle the housing shortage.
Mr Moran said the plan aims to accelerate the delivery of "affordable, high-quality rental homes" for the "thousands of workers and individuals who are finding difficulty accessing the private rental market".
He was speaking as two of the units were put on display in the centre of the city for the public to view.
The use of modular homes is a key part of the mayor's housing project for Limerick.
Mr Moran said the modular homes are designed for one and two-person households, who currently represent over half of Limerick’s housing needs.
The two units on display came in two different sizes, measuring 23 square metres and 32 square metres.
He said the current rent for a one-bed apartment in the city is now around €1,650 per month, and he expects the rent on the smaller modular unit to be under €1,000.
The mayor said the plans are for 2,000 such units across several sites, with funding and planning permission to be secured.
"It's effectively a state intervention. We've heard a lot of people in housing talk about the Vienna Model … Effectively, the rent which is paid is paid by workers.
"It's not state subsidised in the same way as we think about public housing, that rent allows us to pay back the loans that we have to borrow to actually buy all the units in the first place," he said.
"We've been trying to do the same thing for the last number of years in housing, and it's not solving the crisis. It's really important we do something different.
"This is different. It's innovative. It's Limerick showing that we can do something for Limerick that works and it solves, I think, a large portion of our rental problem, if we can do this at scale," Mr Moran said.
Some housing charities in the city are more cautious about the plan.
NOVAS said it welcomes any measures that will increase supply but regards the modular units as a short-term solution where a longer one is needed.
"We welcome any plan that's going to alleviate the pressures in the private rented market and the homeless sector in the city," said Una Burns, the charity’s communications and advocacy manager.
However, she added that they have some concerns.
"We're concerned that this is, by its very nature, is a transitional programme, and we need to have long-term sustainable housing solutions for the people of Limerick city and county Limerick.
"Last year provided about 1,000 new homes into a system, and this is well short of the target, which, according to the Housing Commission, was about between 2,000 and 4,300," Ms Burns said.
According to the latest data in July 2025, there were 516 single adults living in state-funded emergency accommodation, which was an increase of six people from the previous month, 74 people from July 2024.
The number of homeless families in Clare and Limerick in July 2025 was 147, with 222 adults and 232 children.
Increases in advertised rents in Limerick city are now running at twice the national average at just under 15%.
The people of the city can have their say on the mayor’s plan as the modular units are on public display.
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