Council properties lie vacant as housing list doubles

CRITICISM?Cllr Michael Kilcoyne

Anton McNulty

THE Mayo News can reveal that 113 council units are currently lying vacant, while the county’s housing waiting list has swollen to almost 3,000 applicants – more than doubling in  two years.  
The vacancy figures were given to members of Mayo County Council at yesterday’s (Monday’s) monthly meeting by Senior Executive Officer Paul Benson, who outlined that €1 million was allocated to the municipal districts, which they must share among them to get the vacant buildings ready for occupation.
Mr Benson revealed that there were 140 vacant units at the start of 2015 and, of the current vacant units, 96 are in urban areas. He said of the these 96 vacant units, 37 were vacated due to surrenders which he acknowledged was a big problem for the Council. He said there were 106 tenancy surrenders since the start of the year.
“The number of tenancy surrenders is an issue, some are due to debt which cannot be helped. Some tenants move because they prefer the rental sector and that’s an issue,” he explained.
Mr Benson also explained that €27.2 million has been allocated over three years to the Council as part of the Housing Capital Programme, with €15 million earmarked for 146 new units. He urged members of the different municipal districts to identify the housing need in their areas in order to avail of the remaining €12 million.

Renting pitfall
Figures from the Department of the Environment and Local Government show that there are 1,479 applicants for social housing at Mayo County Council. However, Fianna FΡil TD Dara Calleary says that this information is from 2013 and claims the latest figures show the housing waiting list has doubled to 2,965 applicants.
While the presentation by Mr Benson on council-housing occupancy was welcomed by members of the council, Cllr Michael Kilcoyne said that there was no need for units to lie vacant considering the number of people who are homeless.
Cllr Kilcoyne added that people who avail of rent assistance are no longer on the housing list and this, he feels, will lead to homelessness in the future.
“If someone is in rental accommodation they are taken off the housing list. If, in a few years time, the landlord sells off the house when the tenancy is up, these people are on the street. They are back on the housing list and start off all over again,” he claimed.

Heating issues
Mr Benson also revealed that he expects every local authority house in the county to have a heating system by the end of 2016. He said 112 properties of the council’s total stock of 2,046 properties have been identified as being deficient in terms of central heating provision. These properties will be supplied with oil or solid fuel heating at a cost of €1.2 million.
He added that 764 of the council’s properties have insulation quality that did not meet the council’s own Energy Efficient Programme standards. He said the standard was very high and expected the necessary upgrades to be completed in the next two-and-a-half years.