'Council must get its vacant houses back into use a lot faster'

Members of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District have criticised how long it is taking Mayo County Council to turn around the many vacant council units that could be used to house families in the district.

At last week’s meeting of the forum, Belmullet councillor CGerry Coyle said he could not understand why it takes so long to get the houses that are vacant back into use. 

“Can the contractors not stay at the work until people move in? The whole thing seems so stagnated. If somebody passes away in a council house it can be left for 15 years before it’s put into use again. All of a sudden it needs fire certificates and all sorts of assessments and people living in it for years up to that. 

"Contractors seem to tender for these works, are given the houses to do but then don’t seem to start the work for ages. I think they should be given a time limit and told it will go out to tender again if they don’t meet it. It’s just sad with so many people waiting for a house that it is taking so long.” 

Cllr Chris Maxwell said the situation is just as bad in Louisburgh, adding: “We have two houses vacated recently, in absolutely fantastic condition, well-kept and relatively new houses. We have people on the housing list, some in dire need, and these two houses are sitting there in Louisburgh town. I don’t think they even need a lick of paint, yet they are not being given out. 

"This is taking forever and deserving people and families should be in them. The system is clearly wrong and there should be a better way of doing this."

Cllr John O’Malley said the message from the council is that it just can’t get the contractors to do them.

“They can’t even get a useless person now, never mind getting someone that’s fit to do it," he added.

Cathaoirleach Cllr Peter Flynn referred to a 1999 document that showed “there was 11 people in the Westport Town Council office and 26 on staff, including a carpenter, plumber, electrician and general trades people".

"It meant if a council house came up it was turned around and back again in four weeks. But now the job has to go through procurement and contractors that can name their price and we can be waiting at least a year. We just have to go back to the scenario of having our own people to do the work. It just shows we have gone backwards in terms of the way we do things in the council.” 

Administrative officer Jim Power agreed there was a difficulty in getting works completed with contractors "as there is competition for their services from the private market". 

"The moment the works are done, the houses are allocated. There is no average turnaround time as some houses may have maintenance issues that can take a long time. When the local authority gets the keys back is another variable as this can take some time.” 

Cllr Coyle said he had people who said they will do the work themselves, but the manager of the district Seamus O’Mongáin replied that contractors need to be validated to tender for work on the e-tender platform.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.