Figures show almost 7,000 people on Cork County Council housing list at the end of last year

ALMOST 7,000 people were on the local authority housing waiting list in Cork county at the end of last year, The Echo can reveal.

Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows that 6,926 people were on Cork County Council’s housing waiting list at the end of last year. Some 4,251 of these were existing tenants requesting a transfer.

The majority of those on the waiting list (2,836) were in south Cork, along with 2,215 in north Cork and 1,875 in West Cork.

Calls have been made for local authorities to focus on bringing vacant and derelict properties back into use to address the lack of housing in Cork and Ireland. 

Jude Sherry and Frank O’Connor run Derelict Cork, highlighting vacancy and dereliction in Cork, and Anois, a design consultancy firm concerned with social justice and sustainability.

Speaking to The Echo, Ms Sherry said: “It is truly scandalous to have such long waiting lists for local authority housing given there were over 17,000 properties that are vacant or derelict recorded across Co Cork as per the last census.

Mr O’Connor said: “These individuals and families [on the waiting list], including children, are being unnecessarily traumatised when there is a solution out there that could be quickly applied, including the compulsory purchase order of long-term empty homes.”

Cork County Council was contacted for comment.