Dublin City Council has bought 53 apartments at a discounted rate to help make a dent in the social housing list.

Shelbourne Plaza in Ringsend has been sold as part of a trade-off with developer Chartered Land, which now does not have to include 51 social housing units in a nearby building project in Ballsbridge.

The units being bought by the Council will be ready for occupation by March 2018, and will be occupied by families on the social housing list.

The Council says there is some minor work to be done on some of the apartments at the moment, and will be in 'pristine condition' when people move in.

Dublin City Council's Deputy Chief Executive Brendan Kenny says the deal is a first of its kind.

He says that while it is still very expensive, the units are being sold at a much lower price that is "somewhat lower than market value".

Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show, he explained: "At the end of a day, our job is to get housing units. There's a housing crisis in the city at the moment. We think this is a better deal.

"We do have problems mixing social housing into private developments: [with the] private residents, there's tension there. It is better for us in this situation to have a full development."

He added: "We're very happy with the deal: it means we have control of the whole development rather than having some units in a much larger development."