City council spent €220k shuttering homes in last year

Cork City Council spent more than €220,000 boarding up vacant homes in the previous 12 months, bringing the total since 2019 to more than €1.1m.

Figures provided to Sinn Féin councillor Kenneth Collins at last night’s council meeting show the local authority also spent around €7m on housing families in emergency accommodation this year, as he called for the families to be allowed to live in the vacant homes instead.

Mr Collins had asked for the amount spent on boarding up homes in the last 12 months, as well as the average annual cost of providing emergency accommodation to a family in Cork city. He was told by acting director of housing, Nicky Carroll, that €221,492 had been spent on securing homes since this time last year.

Mr Carroll added that the average annual cost of providing emergency accommodation to a family in Cork City is €87,500.

Mr Collins told The Echo: “Almost a quarter of a million euro was spent in the last 12 months boarding up homes that could take children and families out of homelessness. At the same, more than 80 families have been accessing emergency accommodation every month this year. This is costing more than €7m annually.

“So we have millions spent on providing homeless accommodation to children on one hand, and hundreds of thousands spent boarding up homes on the other hand. I can’t wrap my head around this, it’s beyond insulting.

“The Government’s moral compass is all wrong. They’ll only provide €11,000 to renovate a council home, but will provide €87,500 to leave a family in a hotel for 12 months. It’s not acceptable. The focus should be on housing these children, not boarding up potential homes.”

Figures previously provided by council show that €890,000 was spent between the start of 2020 and September 2024, including €851,821 on security for vacant housing units and €38,844 on the shuttering of derelict properties.