Is affordable housing on the way in Mayo ?

A survey carried out by Mayo County Council on affordable housing has laid bare the scale of the county's housing challenge, with findings pointing to a significant affordability gap, a strong demand for family-sized homes, and a generation of young people either stuck at home or forced to emigrate.

The online survey received 133 valid responses, with 71 percent coming from Castlebar, Ballina, and Westport. While the council acknowledged it was a modest sample, the findings were described as providing a credible snapshot of housing needs among those actively seeking to get onto the property ladder.

"The findings nonetheless do provide a critical insight into affordable housing, particularly among those seeking access to homeownership support," said Olivia Gallagher, Head of Housing with Mayo County Council. "The profile of respondents is highly relevant to the target group for affordable housing — primarily first-time buyers, working households and individuals actively attempting to purchase a home."

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Of the 133 valid respondents, 124 were first-time buyers and 11 were Fresh Start applicants. The vast majority were living in rented accommodation or with family — 57 percent were renting and 40 percent were living with relatives, leaving little room to save. Most fell into the middle income bracket of €30,000 to €60,000, with one in five in the lower income bracket and just under a quarter in the higher income categories.

Demand was heavily skewed towards three-bedroom family homes, with two-bedroom units as the main alternative. Apartments were significantly less popular. Castlebar ranked as the most preferred location overall, while Westport showed a consistent spread of preferences across all rankings. Ballina drew strong first and second preference rankings, while Claremorris ranked lowest on first preference but highest on third preference, suggesting it is considered a fallback option for many.

The affordability gap emerged as the defining theme of the survey, with respondents expressing frustration and stress at being priced out of the market. Single applicants in particular faced stark challenges, with 60% indicating they struggled to get a foothold on the property ladder.

Councillor Harry Barrett did not mince his words when addressing the findings. "A price point of €375,000 for a three-bedroom semi in Castlebar, as an affordable home, is completely and utterly crazy," he said. "That's unaffordable for the vast majority of people earning that kind of money. It has to come down, and there has to be massive state intervention — to buy the land, to provide universal design, and to pay the staff if need be to build these homes. We're pulling the ladder up and saying to them: you can't afford it, you're renting for the rest of your life. And I don't accept it."

Councillor Peter Flynn pointed to a different dimension of the crisis — the thousands of Mayo people who have left the country entirely and are not captured in any survey. "There are so many people who have left Ireland out of the fact that they know they can't get on the ladder," he said. "In Perth, there is now a section known as Little Westport. If we could come up with some form of affordable housing scheme, we would have absolutely no challenge whatsoever filling those houses."

Flynn drew on a recent example to illustrate what he believes works. "We had five affordable houses in Westport last year, in the range of €225,000 to €245,000 — five A-rated houses. I honestly think if 100 houses in that range came up tomorrow morning, hundreds of people would snap them up straight away."

Committee member Niall Dunne raised the issue of knock-on effects throughout the housing chain. "You have a lot of young people living at home, which means that people who might have downsized can't do it," he said. "In fifteen years' time we'll have loads of four-bed houses we can't fill."

On the supply side, Catherine McConnell, Director of Services for Housing, told the meeting that Mayo County Council is continuing feasibility work with the Land Development Agency on a council-owned site in Ballina, describing it as a challenging site but one where the local authority is in a position to help deliver up to 140 mixed tenure units.

Thirty-five units are also planned for Castlebar, where a show house will be made available and the council will walk applicants through the process before applications open.

McConnell confirmed it will operate on a first-come, first-served basis — a detail that prompted Councillor Flynn to compare the process to Ticketmaster, noting that a similar scheme in Dublin filled up within three minutes.

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Gallagher confirmed that the survey will be reopened to gather further data, and that the council is also exploring its options under Part 5 legislation, which allows up to 10% of units in qualifying developments to be designated as affordable housing, in addition to the mandatory social housing requirement.

She acknowledged, however, that Mayo faces an additional hurdle. "Mayo wasn't identified as having a county-wide affordability gap, so we still have to demonstrate that we have an affordability gap in specific towns before we can act," she said, adding that the council can carry out that analysis in-house using survey data and other sources.

The findings arrive at a moment when the pressure on local authorities to act is intensifying. With a generation renting indefinitely, emigrating in search of a better life, or waiting at home well into adulthood, Mayo County Council faces the challenge of translating survey data into homes — and doing so at a price point that people can actually afford.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme