A former Mayor of Clare claims urgent efforts are required to provide forever homes to low and middle income earners in the county.
It comes as new figures released to Aontú show that 71 local authority houses in Clare were left vacant throughout the first six months of the year.
Clare’s unoccupied stock consisted of 44 casual vacancies, 15 units undergoing major refurbishment works and twelve units in traveller accommodation schemes which were also undergoing renovation.
Casual vacancies can arise when the occupant passes away or moves out and Clare County Council typically deal with between 85 and 100 such properties each year.
Although this months meeting of elected representatives indicated that a further 13 vacant units have since come back into use, there are currently 2,852 households on this county’s social housing list.
However Clare’s Social Housing Chair believes the local authority need to make further use of their powers to acquire derelict buildings.
Shannon Independent Councillor, Gerry Flynn believes more families in the county can be accommodated.
In 2022, the National Oversight and Audit Commission found that some local authorities took up to eight months to re-let council owned properties.
However a former Mayor believes further efforts are required to address the real elephant in the room.
Cathaoirleach of the East Clare Municipal District, Tony O’Brien claims affordable housing schemes for middle income earners are desperately needed to bridge the housing gap.
You can listen to the full interview below.
