Young Mayo couples moving into parent's sheds says Councillor

Young people in Mayo are renovating their parents' sheds into living accommodation because they cannot afford to build or buy a house, claimed a local councillor.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District, long-standing Fianna Fáil councillor Blackie Gavin said the lack of affordable housing in Castlebar was a huge problem which needs addressing.

While criticising the decision of the Minister of Housing, Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fáil), and the Office of the Planning Regulator not to allow the rezoning of extra land for residential housing, he said that while on the canvass trail he has noticed young people renovating their parents' sheds to live in.

“There is an amount of people turning sheds into accommodation for their kids because they cannot go out to buy a site and cannot afford to buy a home. They are converting the house or the sheds at the back of houses and I have seen it myself on the canvass. People are putting in bases for modular homes to put their family in and that is the way it is. The regulator in Dublin won't let us build houses but this is what the people are doing. They are converting their houses and I can see it myself,” he said.

Cllr Gavin said that more needs to be done to help young people get on the housing ladder and criticised the obstacles in their way. He pointed out one instance where a young couple in Islandeady are being charged €20,000 by Uisce Éireann to connect to the water supply.

“The council should be helping people like that. They have made representations to several councillors and it is disgraceful...it is an awful racket,” he said.

Fine Gael councillor Donna Sheridan also criticised the length of time it takes for Uisce Éireann, formerly known as Irish Water, to connect to a new house or respond to correspondence.

“It is an absolute disgrace. Young couples are being hindered by this and they [Uisce Éireann] would want to cop on. Since this [water services] left the councils it has been in disarray,” she said.