Pressure to secure housing for 1,800 families

The traditional role of Westmeath County Council in the provision of housing is “going to diminish” over the coming years, according to a top housing official with the local authority.Declan Leonard, Senior Executive Officer at the Council’s Housing Section, said that while the local authority provided somewhere in the region of 120 or 130 houses for families per annum a couple of years ago, the economic downturn has resulted in those figures dropping to an average of 18 or 20 houses a year.Mr. Leonard told local councillors at their meeting last week that there is a “reduced demand” for affordable housing, but that applications for social housing number somewhere between 60 and 70 per month on average.Citing a swollen social housing waiting list 1,800 strong, Mr. Leonard said that to meet the provision of housing for steady numbers of applicants, and due to a lack of available funding, the Council will look at new supply initiatives such as long-term leasing or the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS).The Council official spoke in the context of a review of the local authority’s Housing Strategy, for the period 2010-2014, which was ordered by Central Government to address the issue of unsold affordable housing stocks.The draft review revealed that 15 percent of Council housing stock within the county is vacant, and “a wasted resource”, calling for the establishment of an “Empty Homes Strategy”.It also found that too much land is zoned residential for the estimate of housing demand expected by 2014, and that trends emerging at this time “indicate an increase in more single and older people which will require a smaller size of dwelling, with a growth in the rental market”.Mr. Leonard told Monday’s meeting that further drops in house completions and prices are expected, accompanied by a greater need for social housing.