The delivery of almost 1,000 new social houses in the county by 2021 is achievable, Galway County Council has insisted.
Director of Services for Housing, Michael Owens said the ambitious target of 995 new social housing units over the next four years will be met by the local authority.
This year the target set by Government is for 179 new social housing units to be delivered in Galway County, and Mr Owens said the Council was on course to exceed that target. The national target for 2018 was 7,869 units, under the Fine Gael-led Government’s Rebuilding Ireland housing strategy.
The new units, he said, will include a mixture of homes including purchases and acquisitions, new build housing estates, as well as houses in new private estates that are being developed for which a percentage has to be social housing as per Part 5 of planning legislation.
Mr Owens outlined that almost €2 million has been secured for ten new social houses at Claremount in Oughterard.
This year some 27 units under Part 5 will be given to the County Council. The Council is moving away from a policy of purchases and acquisitions towards building housing units but it takes time for that change of policy to be implemented, he said. The target also includes bringing voids back into use.
Chief Executive of the County Council Kevin Kelly said that Mr Owens has been assigned solely to the delivery of housing and to meet these targets. He agreed with Councillors that the targets were ambitious but said they would be met.
Councillor Joe Byrne (FG) said he had “no faith” in the Council’s ability to deliver 995 social houses by 2021 because of a lack of resources.
Cllr Seán Ó Tuairisg (FF) agreed and cautioned against giving people “false hope”. In Connemara, he said, native people were being hampered by planning laws in which they had to prove a housing need – even when they were from the area.
Cllr Donagh Killilea (FF) said he hoped the Council would “ramp-up” its social housing building programme. Cllr Karey McHugh (Ind) said people in Council housing estates in Tuam who have never before been in arrears are now finding that they are six months in arrears.
Cllr Michael Fahy (Ind) said the Catholic Church could have part to play in providing new social housing.
He said the Diocese of Galway may be willing to donate lands to the Council for the purpose of building new homes. The new Bishop of Galway, Dr Brendan Kelly should be invited into the Council chamber at the next meeting, he said.
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