Council eyes five sites for affordable housing

There may be good news for people who earn too much to qualify for social housing, but too little to buy their own home.

Cork County Council is looking at five sites on which to build affordable houses, which they will sell to suitable applicants below the market rate.

Maurice Manning, the council’s director of housing, told a meeting of the council’s northern division that sites are being examined in Mallow, Midleton, Carrigaline, Clonakilty, and Kinsale.

He was replying to a question from Cllr Frank O’Flynn, who wanted to know how the local authority was responding to the Government’s decision to reactivate the building of affordable houses.

The scheme was scrapped a few years ago, but, last June, the Government reintroduced it for first-time buyers.

Cllr O’Flynn said the council should use land it owns in Fermoy and Mitchelstown for the scheme.

However, Mr Manning said the council is concentrating on areas where housing is more expensive and beyond the means of many people. Mr Manning said they are targeting areas where the average price of a three-bed semi is €300,000.

He said the cost of a similar property in Fermoy would be €180,000 and so an affordable housing scheme wouldn’t be required there.

“There aren’t any three-bed houses available in Fermoy anyway. This isn’t good enough,” Cllr O’Flynn said.

Cllr Noel McCarthy agreed with him, pointing out the council has land in the town at Uplands which it could use for such a scheme.

Like Cllr O’Flynn, he said there is as big a percentage of people in property limbo in Fermoy as there is anywhere else.

“It’s good news for the five locations picked, but it’s disappointing there are none in Fermoy. Hopefully, that will happen in the future, as we have the land,” said Cllr McCarthy.

Cllr Deirdre O’Brien argued the case for Mitchelstown. She said there is a serious shortage of houses there and this is driving up the price of anything coming onto the market.

Meanwhile, questions have been asked as to why the council hasn’t yet looked at areas like Ballincollig, where house prices are just as expensive, if not more so, than some of the areas under consideration.

Ballincollig-based Cllr Daithi O’Donnabhain said his town, which is the largest in the county, shouldn’t have been overlooked:

“I have been informed there are, currently, no properties available to rent on either MyHome or Daft in Ballincollig.

I’m extremely concerned for families and also those looking to take up employment with the many employers based there.

“In a conversation with one of the biggest auctioneers based in the town, Con Nagle, of Global Properties, he informed me he had the last two properties available, but these were rented on March 15. Mr Nagle said that in his 25 years’ experience, he has never seen it as bad.”