Affordable housing build in Castlebar should act as blueprint, says Donna Hyland

Castlebar town and surrounding areas have a ‘serious’ lack of affordable housing, that is according to Sinn Féin local election candidate Donna Hyland. 

Ms Hyland has welcomed the proposed Mayo County Council affordable housing project in the town but has warned that bureaucracy regarding local housing projects is escalating the housing crisis and delaying the delivery of much needed homes. 

Hyland explained how “There has not been an affordable housing project delivered in Castlebar by the council in over a decade.” 

At a recent Mayo County Council housing committee meeting, Tom Gilligan, Head of Services at Mayo County Council, presented a proposal to the committee, for fifteen affordable houses to be built in Castlebar.

Donna Hyland, praised the Housing Committee, saying they have worked ‘diligently’ with Mayo County Council to get this project approved. She said “The local authority was required to prove a need for affordable housing and submit a business case to the Department of Housing before the project was approved. This level of bureaucracy frustrates the process and causes delays before the project even gets to construction stage.” 

Despite the project's progression, Hyland expressed that she is “disappointed that the affordable housing project will deliver only fifteen units in Castlebar and [she] advocate[s] for housing targets to be increased. There is a great need for affordable homes and if this project is successful, I am hopeful that the project plan will act as a blueprint to streamline affordable housing applications to the Department of Housing in the future.”

The Castlebar local election candidate concluded by saying “The lack of affordable houses to buy and to rent is having an impact on the recruitment ability of local employers.”, she assured the community that she “will continue to work with Mayo County Council to ensure the delivery of more social and affordable homes.”