Over 1,000 approved applicants on one Cork housing waiting list
Keith Jones, head of the council’s housing directorate, said the local authority has a lot of work going on in the background and it is hoped to get the numbers down in the coming years.
More than 1,000 approved applicants for social housing are on a waiting list in the most populated of the county's eight municipal districts.
Serious concerns have now been raised that the council may take years to clear the backlog.
The breakdown provided by senior council officials showed that the biggest demand in the Carrigaline Municipal District Council was for housing in Carrigaline town itself, with 539 approved to seek social housing under the council’s its choice-based letting (CBL) scheme.
In second place came Passage West for preferred location with 162, and Crosshaven was in third with 149.
There are 66 applicants seeking housing in Ringaskiddy, a further 45 in Ballinhassig, 34 in Ballygarvan, 29 in Fountainstown, 19 in Myrtleville, 15 in Minane Bridge and four in Robert’s Cove.
The information was sought by Sinn Féin councillor Eoghan Fahy, who lives in Passage West.
He said he is very concerned about the large numbers which he described as “very worrying.”
Mr Fahy said he believed on the evidence that it would take years to reduce that waiting list.
Keith Jones, head of the council’s housing directorate, said the local authority has a lot of work going on in the background and it is hoped to get the numbers down in the coming years.
Last year the council advertised 55 CBL vacant homes in the Carrigaline Municipal District.
This was the lowest number in the southern division which also covers the municipal districts of Cobh, where there were 60, East Cork, 82, and even Macroom as 56 was higher.
Mr Jones pointed out that while CBL applicants can specify a preferred area they would like to live in, they can specify more than one.
Fine Gael councillor Kate Lynch told council officials that a lot of eviction notices were served in last couple of months in the Coachford area.
She said there’s a need for planned council houses there and in nearby Aghabullogue to be completed as soon as possible.
Ms Lynch was informed the council is doing everything it can to speed up their opening.
Independent councillor Mary Linehan-Foley said she recently, in her capacity as county mayor, opened a special housing project in Macroom specifically designed for people with brain injuries.
She asked Mr Jones to examine the feasibility of developing a similar one in the East Cork area and he said he'd look into her request.
The meeting also heard a request for information from Fianna Fáil councillor Sheila O’Callaghan about council policy on its tenants putting electric car chargers into their properties.
Mr Jones said the council supports this, provided that the tenant uses a registered electrical contractor to ensure the work is done properly.
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