Council must build 'harder and faster' to meet demand

Mayo County Council must build “harder and faster” in order to tackle the ongoing housing crisis, according to a local councillor.

Castlebar-based Cllr Harry Barrett made his comments during a recent meeting of the council's strategic policy committee (SPC) for housing where there was a discussion about the need to provide homes for adults with intellectual disabilities.

“This all goes back to the rate of building social and affordable homes in this county and tells me we have to build harder and faster," said Cllr Barrett. "In terms of provision for those with intellectual disabilities, the data shows that 78% of families have no formal housing plan for their adult child in the future and that 76% are parents over 70. That is only going to grow. And then we have 265 people homeless in Mayo at the moment."

Cllr Barrett said the responsibility for housing "should never have been handed over to the private sector" and it was now time to reverse that policy. Referring to an upcoming workshop with the Land Development Agency (LDA), Cllr Barrett said: "There is no doubt the system is dysfunctional and while [council management] are doing [their] best, we need other tools, such as the LDA, to get the demand for housing down. Back in the 1940s and 1950s we were able to build houses, and we can do it now as well, but we need a minister who can take action and roll it out. I see the LDA as a structure that is there that can be tapped for that."

Director of Services Catherine McConnell said the "cost of housing is going through the roof" due to a "mixture of inflation and costs of labour", but warned that the LDA is not a panacea, noting that it is working with large building contractors, mainly in Dublin, and it does not have thousands of contractors and blocklayers.

She pointed out that the council is already building on council land with the input of in-house architects, adding: “But we will never be employing blocklayers and electricians and the LDA won’t either."

Cllr Harry Barrett persevered, referring to the construction of 161 houses on McHale Road in Castlebar in "the space of two years" in the 1930s. 

“Costs are up because we are depending on the private sector predominantly to build houses for us and my point is the cheapest way is to build ourselves. That is what the LDA is doing. It is building cheaper than the private sector and has its own legal and engineering teams. We simply have to stop this takeaway service of waiting for local builders to be ready. If the system is dysfunctional, this is the alternative, to build on our own land with our own staff.” 

SPC chairperson Cllr Peter Flynn agreed there is a shortage of labour in the construction sector. 

“I know people say we just have to build houses but the reality is trying to find a builder or someone to even fix a plug now is near impossible. People are running away from the trades, and the vast majority are coming from other countries.”

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.