Offaly housing crisis continues despite new builds around county

DESPITE the construction of social homes in Tullamore, Edenderry, Birr and elsewhere around the county, there are still 529 applicants for housing in Offaly, last week's meeting of the County Council heard.

A further 849 households are being assisted under the Housing Assistance Payments scheme.

At the end of April 20 single people and four families were in emergency accommodation.

A total of 27 new houses provided by the Tuath housing body were allocated at Killane Court, Edenderry recently and on Monday the council gave the green light for the construction of 38 units in Clara.

In Tullamore, work is scheduled to start this month on 41 houses at Kearney's Field and 19 at Clonminch.

The building of eight units in Daingean has resumed, as has work on eight in Mucklagh, 28 at Bog Road, Portarlington, 34 at Woodfield, Birr, four in Walsh Island, five in Tullamore and three in Cloneygowan.

Cllr Sean O'Brien, Tullamore, called for an increase in house construction and said that in addition to the long waiting lists, private tenants had been hit by hikes in rents which had reached €1,143 per month in the county town.

“These will be the first generation in Ireland that will be poorer than their parents,” said Cllr O'Brien. “You meet the need by increasing supply.”

The houses at Killane Court, Edenderry, were allocated by Tuath Housing to people on the Offaly County Council housing waiting list.

"Tuath is delighted to have worked in partnership with the Council on this Tuath led direct build development consisting of 22 three-bed houses and 5 two-bed houses. These new homes have been funded via private finance from the Housing Finance Agency and a loan from the Department of Housing," a statement from Tuath said.

Tuath already manages 71 homes in the county and currently has over 6,800 homes in management nationwide catering for over 19,000 people, with plans to deliver a further 1,800 new homes throughout 2021.

Sean O’Connor, CEO of Tuath stated: “We are delighted to be working with Offaly County Council to provide new social homes in the County. It is fantastic to see this collaborative effort resulting in 27 families moving into their forever homes today. We will continue to work in partnership with local authorities nationwide to deliver more homes to more people.”

Cllr John Carroll, Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council joined with Cllr John Foley, chairperson of the Municipal District of Edenderry in welcoming the development and wished all the families well in their new homes and in building their community together.

Anna Marie Delaney, chief executive of Offaly County Council acknowledged the role played by Approved Housing Bodies in helping to deliver quality social housing for those on the council’s social housing list.

Barry O'Leary, Chief Executive Officer of Housing Finance Agency commented: “The HFA is very pleased to support the important development of these fantastic homes at Killane Court, which will provide 27 families in the Edenderry area with the certainty and comfort of having their own place to live.

"The availability of low cost, long term fixed rate finance from the HFA was an important component in making the project viable and the HFA will continue to support the strong growth in activity by Tuath and other approved housing bodies across the country.”

Tuath Housing is a not-for-profit approved housing body, providing long-term, quality housing. The organisation currently has over 6,800 homes under management and are active in every county throughout Ireland.

Speaking at Monday's meeting of the council, Cllr Robert McDermott also welcomed the Killane scheme.

“There were 27 very happy families in Edenderry last weekend when they were handed their keys,” said Cllr McDermott.