Council houses empty for year over repairs delay

UP TO 50 council houses will remain unoccupied for up to a year in parts of Cork county because of the increasing length of time it is taking to get repair work done.

The situation was described as “totally unacceptable” yesterday by a councillor who obtained figures from council officials that show 99 of the local authority’s houses are vacant in the South Cork Division — which includes areas like Youghal, Midleton, Cobh, Glanmire, Kinsale, Bandon and Macroom.

Cllr Seamus McGrath was informed that it took an average of 30 weeks to repair a council house before renting it to a new tenant.