Sherlock confirms €80 million for Cork County

Rasmussen calls for allocation to be spread equally around region

Local minister Seán Sherlock has confirmed over €80 million has been allocated to Cork County Council for local housing which will see 1217 built in the county between 2015 and 2017.

“This will address 25% of the waiting list for houses,” said Minister Sherlock.

“It is imperative that the needs of each region within the county are identified and that the monies and construction work is allocated in the Northern side of the county. Over €1.5 billion will be invested in a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes by local authorities designed to accommodate 25% of those currently on the housing waiting lists in social housing.”

Labour Cllr Cathal Rasmussen also welcomed the allocation and stressed that it was important that Cobh would see construction.

“This is a welcome development and is a step in the right direction for the people of Cobh, following the promises made by Minister Kelly and the party at Budget 2015,” said Cllr Rasmussen.

“Details of the new Build, Buying & Leasing Programme were confirmed by Environment Minister Alan Kelly today and outline the plan to significantly reduce the numbers of people on housing lists locally.”

“Each local authority was asked to bring forward housing unit targets and specific building projects out to 2017. As part of the strategy, targets had to be agreed with each local authority in 2015.”

The various schemes will target the refurbishment of vacant social housing units and local authorities will have the option of both building and acquiring housing. The average cost of building a social housing unit is €185,000 – meaning in some parts of the country it will remain cheaper and quicker to acquire as opposed to build. Local authorities will have some discretion to adapt to local circumstances, but all will be expected to kick-start a building programme.

Minister Sherlock stressed that the economic recovery is now being used by Labour to ensure that social housing is made apriority.

“This announcement has been made possible by the €3.8bn social housing strategy secured by Minister Kelly at Budget time,” said Minister Sherlock.

“Today we are seeing the fruits of this strategy trickling down to local level with confirmation of social housing targets that have been set for Cork until 2017. I look forward to the specific geographical allocations being confirmed by the Council shortly.”