Barrett says Mayo needs another 7,000 houses following scathing Housing Commission report

A local election candidate in the Castlebar Local Electoral Area has said Mayo needs another 7,000 family homes to address the county’s housing shortage.

Harry Barrett was reacting to a report from the Housing Commission, which found that Ireland was short of 256,000 houses.

The report gave a scathing assessment of the government’s housing policy, noting that Ireland has “by comparison with our European partners, one of the highest levels of public expenditure for housing, yet one of the poorest outcomes”.

Mr Barrett estimated that the shortage of 256,000 houses amounted to 7,000 when applied to Mayo’s population.

“I am meeting families who are suffering under the weight of the rent that they have to pay, yet they cannot complain because the shortage of long-term lets in the county means that they have nowhere to go and no option but to pay,” stated the former Castlebar town councillor.

_{Harry Barrett, local election candidate in the Castlebar Local Electoral Area}

“I am meeting young adults stuck at home unable to leave the family home and parents who are upset when their sons and daughters have immigrated to live in other countries due to the lack of cheap accommodation. This report now puts a number on the shortage of homes in this county and I am very mindful of the damaging effects of this shortage on families and children.

Echoing recommendations in the report, Mr Barrett called for more incentives to be given to deal with dereliction in urban areas in Ballina and Castlebar.

“If elected to Mayo County Council on June 7th I will bring this report with me to shape the Local Area Plan and to get the houses we need for families all over the Castlebar Electoral Area as a matter of urgency,” he added.

According to recent data from the Department of Housing, there have been commencement notices for 265 houses in Mayo in the first four months of this year, an increase of 44 the same period in 2023 and a record for the period since the data series began in 2015.

Mayo County Council has delivered 360 social houses since 2019, including 291 council-built properties.

The local authority aims to deliver over 1,000 council houses by the end of 2026 under the Housing For All Programme.