Offaly Councillor slams Government failure to meet social and affordable housing targets

Tullamore-based Sinn Féin Councillor Aoife Masterson has accused the government of "being asleep at the wheel" following the latest publication of data from the department of housing which was released just before Christmas.  

The new information which shows the delivery data for July to September indicates that the government is set to miss their social and affordable housing targets for 2025.

Cllr Masterson reflected on how this data has affected the Faithful County stating: "Things in Offaly are now at a complete bottleneck. People hoping to buy can’t find a property in their price range and so are staying in rented accommodation longer."

As a result, she claimed that "this is reducing the supply of available accommodation in the region and means there are fewer and fewer options at ever increasing prices for those seeking to rent. This is seeing more people stay, or move back in, with family members."

This has led to a worsening housing situation within the county according to Cllr Masterson, who believes: "This governments cuts to vital homeless prevention schemes have resulted in more adults and children trapped in emergency accommodation this Christmas. It has gotten to a point where emergency accommodation in Offaly is all but maxed out with many finding it impossible to even find hotels or B&B's willing to take them."

The Sinn Féin Councillor also stated: "Is it any wonder that the Minister waited until the Dáil was in recess and people were switched off for the holidays before releasing these embarrassing figures.”

The data in question illustrates that the government failed to meet their intended social and housing targets for 2025 in five out of the six areas outlined only succeeding in social housing acquisitions delivering 461 units despite a target of just 200.

The other targets which didn't meet their quota centered around housing schemes such as new build social rental, new build and cost rental, new build affordable purchase, long term leasing social and HAP/RAS rental subsidies. 

Amongst these schemes, the government was only able to fulfill between 24% and 65% of the intended targets leading to an average success rate of 37.4% of their objectives. 

The government also failed to meet their housing and social targets in subsidised private rentals, new build social/affordable units and second hand acquisitions with results of 58%, 38% and 4% respectively.

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Cllr Masterson commented that "subsidised private rental accommodation in schemes such as HAP, RAS, and long-term leasing make up almost 60% of the total output in the first nine months of the year."

She insists that "this highlights once again the government’s overreliance on an expensive and insecure private rental sector to meet social housing needs."

Even though the 2025 target was met, Cllr Masterson was critical of the progress on second hand acquisitions. She explained: "It is also concerning that just 461 second hand acquisitions have been completed in the nine months from January to September. This includes vital homeless prevention schemes like tenant-in-situ and housing first."

She concluded: "In 2024, there were a total of 1,540 such acquisitions. Cuts to funding and increased restrictions on these schemes in 2025 will result in significantly fewer acquisitions and in turn increased homeless presentations. It is clear from these figures that the Government are asleep at the wheel. One year into this government, things have only gotten worse for people renting or hoping to buy."