Over 2,300 Clare residents are currently on the county’s housing list with some waiting over 13 years to be housed..
Meanwhile, Clare County Council has confirmed that while 61 of it’s local authority houses lie vacant, it does not have the funds to carry out necessary renovations.
There are currently 2312 people on the housing waiting list in Clare, with waiting lists longest in the Shannon Electoral Area, where 551 applicants are in the system.
Another 541 await housing in the east of the county, with the next longest queue of 490 in the Ennistymon electoral area.
456 people are awaiting housing in Ennis, and there are 274 applications for West Clare.
The earliest of these applications was submitted in March of 1999, but the Council warns it’s likely a significant proportion of these people are interested in housing support via rent supplement only and do not wish to be considered for standard local authority housing.
While many are awaiting housing, the local authority has also confirmed that 61 local authority houses lie vacant. 13 are being refurbished, with works almost complete, and proposals to renovate another five are at tender stage.
A funding application has been made with respect to a further 15 houses, but the Council says it will not be in a position to return the remaining houses to stock unless further funding is provided.
