58 unsold affordable homes in Laois leased as social housing

ALMOST 60 unsold affordable homes in Co Laois are now being leased to people on housing waiting lists, under the new social housing leasing initiative announced by the Government last year.

The scheme allows local authorities to house people on waiting lists in unsold affordable homes by leasing them to housing associations for five years.

If the housing market has recovered at the end of the lease period, the properties can be put on the market as affordable housing. If the current tenants do not wish to buy them, they will be rehoused by the local authority. If the housing market has not recovered in five years the lease can be extended.

The Clúid Housing Association has leased 58 such houses from Laois County Council, in eight estates in Borris-in-Ossory, Mountrath, Portarlington and Portlaoise.

Minister of State with responsibility for housing Michael Finneran said that the council was one of the first local authorities to embrace the new scheme.

Speaking in Portlaoise yesterday, he said the constrained state of public finances meant the State needed to “radically adapt” the way it met housing needs.

“Increasingly there is a need to move beyond the traditional approaches of construction and acquisition if we are to continue to meet housing need at the levels expected of us,” he said.

Neil McKeever of the Clúid Housing Association said the houses leased under the scheme were all good-quality properties and would help create a good social mix of households on the eight estates.

All tenants moved in before Christmas and Clúid is providing a full management and maintenance service to the tenants, who are charged an affordable rent.