Social housing ‘crisis’ despite ghost estates

THOUSANDS of people are waiting for social housing in Kerry in what has been described as “a housing crisis” in the county.

The economic downturn has led to the highest ever number of qualified households on council lists, in both county and urban areas.

The crisis continues despite thousands of houses, built during the boom, lying idle.

The demand for housing, it emerged, was such that it was leading to jammed telephone lines to Kerry Co Council’s housing department — a far cry from the days when it was the council planning department that was under pressure.

Not a single rural cottage is to be built by the council in Kerry this year, and there is to be no return to large house building schemes, according to a council report circulated to members.

The figure of 4,258 “qualified households” on the housing list includes the county’s three main urban centres — Killarney, Tralee and Listowel.

Households can mean whole families, which could suggest over 10,000 people have qualified, according to the council.

Almost 1,000 people are waiting for a house in Killarney alone.

A recent meeting in Killarney heard no houses were available in the top tourist town.

The vast majority of the more than 4,000 qualified households are renting privately and are in receipt of rent supplement through the community welfare service.

Cllr Michael Cahill, who requested the information, said: “There is a housing crisis. Allocations have dried up.”

The figure, he said, was the highest-ever in modern times.

While he accepted many were in reasonable occupation, some were not, the councillor told housing officers. One family, he said, had been on the waiting list for seven years.

According to the council, the Department of the Environment and Local Government had decided there will be no return to large-scale capital construction by local authorities.

Accommodation is to be provided through social housing leasing and rental accommodation schemes involving contracts between the local authorities and private landlords and or the voluntary housing sector.

The economic downturn has seen a large increase in phone calls to the housing department, the council has also said.

While the boom had led to pressure on the planning department, the council’s social services departments were now feeling the pressure.

“This (the downturn) has contributed to a large increase in call volumes,” the council told Danny Healy-Rae who complained about the council’s telephone system.

A council letter to the councillor showed that up to 30 calls were being dealt with in housing and other hard pressed departments, with many others queued for waiting.

Meanwhile, thousands of houses stand empty in Co Kerry, mainly in ghost estates.

The census recently found just under 20,000 empty houses in ghost estates and other developments. While some of the empty houses were holiday homes, some were also abandoned second homes, it is believed.