Cork County Council told to acquire 1,217 houses

Cork County Council has been instructed by the Department of the Environment to ‘acquire’ 1,217 properties for social housing in the next three years, mainly by building them or leasing from the private sector.

There are fears that the council may not be able to deliver on Government targets for social housing because it is short of staff and may not be able to purchase properties as landlords hold onto them in the belief they will get better prices as the economy picks up.

The department has set aside €80.6m to acquire the properties throughout the county up to the end of 2017.