Council urged to speed up provision of discounted serviced sites to help locals buy homes

Scheme would help West Cork locals squeezed out of property market by wealthy outsiders seeking holiday homes, councillor said

Cllr Caroline Cronin and her daughter Olivia Cronin-O'Driscoll with neighbours Miriam and Katie Pyburn with Susan, Ryan and Aidan O'Driscoll, Linda and Fionn Murphy, Archie Wilson and Ben Mason, at Ard Chléire in Schull, West Cork. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Cork County Council has been urged to speed up a programme to provide more discounted serviced sites by one of its own councillors who benefitted from such a scheme 20 years ago.

The necessity for subsidised serviced sites has become more pronounced in coastal villages in West Cork as locals are finding it increasingly difficult to compete for homes or sites with well-healed people seeking holiday homes in the region.

Caroline Cronin and her fisherman husband Sean O’Driscoll remain eternally grateful for the opportunity to have been able to build a home on a serviced site which was subsidised by the county council.

Now, in their beloved harbourside village of Schull they have reared three children.

Like many the young couples at the time, they were only starting out and did not have the financial clout to buy a site or house on the open market.

Ms Cronin said the situation she and her husband encountered had become even more commonplace and it was becoming increasingly difficult for locals in some picturesque West Cork villages to buy property as they cannot compete with wealthy outsiders seeking holiday homes.

“With today's challenging housing market, so many individuals, couples, and families find themselves trapped in a frustrating predicament. They earn too much to qualify for social housing assistance, yet the rising property prices have made it impossible to secure a mortgage. 

"I believe Cork County Council has a unique opportunity to take the lead and address this issue by launching a pilot programme that provides serviced sites, helping the squeezed middle to step onto the property ladder,” the Fine Gael councillor said.

She said there was a lack of affordable options because Schull is a well-known holiday home haven, with a great demand for properties.

Ever-increasing prices greatly hinders locals in their journey to homeownership. It's not feasible for a young, local family starting out on their perspective home-owning journey to outbid a potential buyer on the hunt for their West Cork retreat. 

"There is a fundamental need for serviced sites subsidised for the people of our community who cannot break from the rental market. It has left them stuck in a cycle of renting, preventing them from the security of homeownership,” Ms Cronin said.

The council is looking at providing serviced sites and affordable homes in several locations around the county. These are provided at less than the market value to aid people who cannot get mortgages but earn too much to qualify for council housing.

Cork County Council has previously provided serviced sites throughout the county, which have made a significant impact to the towns and villages lucky enough to have benefited from them. 

"An example is Ard Chléire in Schull where 28 families got to rear their children in a wonderful, safe environment. The children got to attend the local schools and play and participate with their local teams and clubs, all thanks to the council.

"We need to see this happen again throughout the county,” Ms Cronin said.

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