Council’s award for affordable housing delivery
An award for ‘Delivery Response to Target’ was presented by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to Westmeath County Council at a recent seminar for Local Authority Affordable Housing Staff.
On Wednesday February 26, the annual Local Authority Affordable Housing Staff Seminar took place in the Radisson Hotel in Golden Lane, Dublin, where Andrew Macken, senior architect, Westmeath County Council, received an award to acknowledge the council’s delivery response to the targets set under the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme (LAAPS).
Cathaoirleach, Cllr Liam McDaniel, said: “The Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme is a brilliant support to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder, and I am thrilled that Westmeath County Council have received this award, which acknowledges the hard work of the staff involved in surpassing the targets set for the scheme in our county.”
LAAPS is a key part of Westmeath’s Housing Delivery Action Plan under the Government’s Housing for All Plan and the Affordable Housing Act 2021. Under it, Westmeath County Council make new, local homes available for purchase by first time buyers and Fresh Start applicants at reduced prices, whose combined mortgage and deposit will not cover the market price of the newly built home.
In return, the council take a percentage equity stake in the home, equal to the discount of the purchase price from the full market value.
Westmeath County Council delivered the first scheme under the LAAPS in the country with the nine affordable units at Bower Hill, Athlone in 2023 in conjunction with Ardent Properties.
Since then, they have also delivered 22 affordable units at Gort an Locha, Moate, in conjunction with Fitzpatrick and Heavey Homes, and 13 units in Dún an Rí, Athlone with Castlestar.
The council and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are working with developers to make affordable purchase units available for purchase for qualifying applicants in upcoming developments in Westmeath.
Further information about the terms of the scheme is available at affordablehomes.ie.
Enquiries about the scheme can be made to affordablehousing@westmeathcoco.ie.