Investment in social housing needed as families flee urban areas

A report has highlighted the crisis surrounding rising rents and lack of local authority houses in Cork city’s suburbs - leading to families fleeing larger urban areas to affordable rural locations to keep a roof over their heads.

The relocations, in many cases, are forcing families to cut traditional ties with their birthplaces, relatives, friends and face longer commutes to work.

The report, given to councillors representing satellite areas such as Ballincollig and Carrigaline, show there are currently 2,375 applications on the housing waiting list.

The figure represents almost one-third of those on the waiting list for the whole of the county. Council officials told Cllr Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (SF) there were 714 applicants for housing in Ballincollig, 576 for Douglas, 516 for Carrigaline and a further 373 for Togher/Wilton area.

Years of successive governments starving local authorities of funds to build council houses, allied to government supplements which cannot meet rising rents, have led to a major housing crisis, it has been claimed.

On the day the report was released, Cllr Ó Laoghaire said council officials confirmed the availablity of a single one-bed apartment, a 2-bed house and three 3-bed homes in Ballincollig.

In Passage West, there were two 2-bed homes and three 3-bed houses. In Carrigaline, where demand had been more acute, there were four 2-bed homes available.

In Togher, meanwhile, there was one 3-bed semi while in Douglas there had been two 2-bed apartments and one single bed apartment.

“There is an increasingly drastic housing crisis in metropolitan Cork and we, in the council, need to start discussing it. I believe it is comparable with the situation in most large urban areas across the state. We are at crisis level in metro Cork,” Cllr Ó Laoghaire said.

He said the lack of available council houses was being exacerbated by the lack of affordable rental properties in the district, particularly for those on lower incomes.

“People in that situation are relying in schemes such as rent supplement and housing assistance which have rent caps that don’t even resemble the situation on the ground.”

Cllr Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

He added: “This seriously underlines the need for urgent investment in social housing.

“There are people on the list for over 10 years. Many people will see these figures, and despair of ever being housed, and that is utterly wrong.”

He said the areas listed should be given urgent priority for housing.