More than 16,000 bids made on 70 local authority homes in Cork county  

More than 16,000 bids were made on just 70 local authority homes in Cork county in the first four months of 2024, it has been revealed.

Data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed there were 64,356 viewings of 70 properties advertised on Cork County Council’s choice-based letting (CBL) system between January 1 and May 1 this year.

Some 16,285 bids were made following the viewings, with some properties receiving more than 400 expressions of interest alone while the majority received at least 100 bids.

CBL is an online system whereby applicants on the council’s housing waiting list can submit an expression of interest by bidding on suitable properties which they feel may meet their housing needs.

The properties are then allocated to the applicant whose position on the list is highest in accordance with Cork County Council’s allocation scheme.

Absolutely shocking

Speaking to The Echo, Cork TD Thomas Gould (SF) labelled the figures “absolutely shocking”. 

He said: “That over 16,000 families bid on just 70 homes shows the scandalous level of need across Cork county.”

“It is particularly frustrating when you think that every single time a family bids on one of these homes, they spend time imagining their life there,” said Mr Gould.

“They think about where their kids will go to school, about how they’ll commute, how far they are from their own families. They’ll imagine Christmases and birthdays.

“That is the reality for these families and these figures show that supply simply isn’t there to meet the level of demand. Over 100 families bid on the vast majority of these homes,” he said.

“That is 100 people imagining a future in these places.”

Scandalous

Mr Gould also highlighted the fact that one home in Whitechurch received over 200 bids.

“This is scandalous when just a couple of kilometres down the road, there are 10 beautiful homes sitting empty in Carraig na bhFear because Irish Water won’t connect them,” he said.

“How can that happen in the middle of this housing crisis?

“I believe we need to see an increase in delivery across Cork county,” the Cork TD said. 

“We need to see an uptick in building so that these families, imagining their lives in secure housing, have a real chance at a home.”

Meanwhile, 13 homes in Carrigaline received over 3,000 bids, according to the council’s CBL data.

Out of reach

Sinn Féin’s local election candidate for Carrigaline, Eoghan Fahy, said: “I wish I could say I was shocked to see that almost 3,000 families bid on just 13 homes in the Carrigaline local election area.

“The reality is though that it’s not surprising because this is coming up on nearly every door for me.

“For people in my ward, safe, secure and affordable housing is almost completely out of reach.

“People are crying out for homes but in 12 weeks, we only saw 13 homes across Passage West, Ringaskiddy and Carrigaline,” he said.

“That is a shocking indictment of this government’s failure to resource local authorities to build homes for families and individuals.”

Cork County Council was contacted for comment.