Council accused of giving ‘two fingers’ to people looking for affordable housing

MAYO County Council has been accused of giving ‘two fingers’ to people looking for affordable housing in Mayo.

The council came under fire for not setting any targets for delivery of affordable houses in the coming year.

Mayo County Council’s draft services delivery plan for 2024 promises to ‘develop modern methods of construction and affordable housing schemes for the county’.

The local authority also aims to deliver 154 new-build social housing units under targets set by the Department of Housing.

Fine Gael councillor Peter Flynn said he was ‘extremely disappointed’ that the local authority had set no target for affordable housing.

Cllr Flynn accused the council of ‘giving two fingers’ to those who wanted to purchase affordable housing by not setting ‘clear targets’ for affordable houses.

“To have a service delivery plan produced without one reference to any sort of affordable housing target or an aspiration to deliver any affordable housing or any affordable sites is unforgivable,” he said at the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council.

“Honestly, it just speaks volumes about where the head of our housing unit is and where the housing section is generally in terms of looking to provide for people who are in work; the people who we talk about who are struggling to find accommodation, be it rental or otherwise.”

Mayo County Council is currently progressing the delivery of affordable housing units at two sites in Westport and has applied to the government for affordable housing schemes in Castlebar and Ballina.

Cllr Donna Sheridan described the lack of delivery of affordable housing by Mayo County Council as ‘absolutely disgraceful’.

“I think our focus in the last two years has been on housing International Protection Applicants and Ukrainians. They need help, they need support, but we also need to focus on the people who live here and need a home,” the Fine Gael councillor said.

Cllr Flynn and Cllr Christy Hyland (Independent) said that local authorities in other counties were already delivering affordable housing.

Addressing Mayo County Council’s Chief Executive, Kevin Kelly, Cllr Hyland said ‘not one affordable house’ had been built during his tenure.

“You’re the gaffer. You’re the boss. Every councillor in our municipal district is crying out for affordable schemes. Where’s your leadership?” said Cllr Hyland, who subsequently withdrew his remarks about Mr Kelly.

Mr Kelly noted that Mayo County Council was not given a target for affordable housing under the government’s Housing For All plan.

The local authority was required to make proposals to the government for affordable housing schemes in Westport, Castlebar and Ballina. The schemes Castlebar and Ballina have not yet obtained approval from the Department of Housing.

“We need approval to progress these schemes. It’s not about me not having leadership or holding things up, it’s a matter of the policy that’s in place,” said Mr Kelly.

Independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne echoed his colleagues’ concerns and proposed that the services delivery plan be amended to include a target for affordable housing.

Cllr Mark Duffy (Independent) said it was ‘disgraceful’ that local authorities had to apply for affordable housing schemes ‘in the midst of a housing crisis’.

Tom Gilligan, Mayo County Council’s Director of Services for Housing, said it was ‘totally disingenuous of the members to say we’re not focused on affordable housing’.

Mr Kelly said that a paragraph on affordable housing could be included in the services delivery plan.

He added that the council could not set a target for affordable housing units without knowing if they will have the support of the Department of Housing.