Council looking at using modular homes to house pyrite victims

MAYO COUNTY Council is currently looking at purchasing modular homes to house victims of pyrite from a UK-based company that is entering into administration.

The local authority intends to purchase over 200 modular homes to use them to accommodate people having to rebuild their houses due to pyrite damage.

Mayo County Council’s Director of Services for Housing, Tom Gilligan, was recently part of a group which travelled to the UK to view the houses.

Two hundred of the houses are completed while another 25 are at various stages of completion.

In an email to county councillors, Mr Gilligan said that the properties would need to comply with EU and Irish certification.

“These modular homes would help to address the lack of housing in Mayo, including emergency and rental,” he wrote.

The Department of Housing has requested that the council submit a proposal on the use of these modular houses, including their potential use afterwards.

A meeting of Mayo County Council’s Housing SPC heard that the county council had received 350 applications for the government’s pyrite redress scheme.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Gilligan said victims of pyrite were finding it ‘very difficult’ to secure accommodation.

“A lot of the time when people are looking for rental accommodation they might just be looking for six months to a year. Some landlords will want more secure long-term guarantees than that,” he said.

Of the pyrite redress scheme applications made to Mayo County Council, 332 have been approved while nine others had been referred to the Housing Agency. One application was withdrawn, two were refused, while another six required further details and information.

There have been 108 applications for Stage 2 of the scheme, 99 of which have been approved.

Final payments have been made to seven households which have completed their rebuild.

In partnership with Mayo North East, the county council is employing two facilitators to assist victims of pyrite with finding accommodation, which he described as ‘like a needle in a haystack’.

In a response to a question from Westport-based county councillor Christy Hyland, Mr Gilligan said that ’90-95’ percent of applications for the redress scheme were from the Ballina area.

At least one housing estate in the Westport area has been afflicted with pyrite.

Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council’s Housing SPC, Cllr Patsy O’Brien, said that the local authority needed to deliver housing quicker, including modular housing.

“In fairness, whether it was right or wrong, in relation to the war-torn countries went through overnight,” he said, referring to the use of modular housing for Ukrainian refugees.

“It’s something like that we need to do as well in relation to the [homeless] people that’s out there as well.”