Council to develop serviced sites in Mayo village

Mayo County Council is hoping to progress four or five serviced sites in Mayo Abbey with a view towards a larger scheme in the future.

The Serviced Site Scheme allows prospective homeowners to purchase fully serviced sites from a local authority at a discount. 

The council's Head of Housing Olivia Gallagher announced details of the initiative at last week's Housing Strategic Policy Committee.

However, Cllr Harry Barrett said while this scheme was welcome, he would hope to see larger schemes progress.

“Serviced sites can be the raw material to solve the housing crisis. With serviced sites, we could act quickly on modular home developments,” he said. “These are needed for the working poor in our municipal districts.” 

Cllr Peter Flynn said he hopes to see the council develop a plot of land for a minimum of 10 serviced sites.

“We are looking for a pilot programme to put in front of the Department, it is crucial we get something sooner than later. My parents bought a serviced site in the 1970s and it allowed them to build incrementally over the next 20 years."

Director of Services for Housing Catherine McConnell said the council intends to start in Mayo Abbey and take it from there.

“We want to start small with a safe site that we own and if that succeeds, then you get an income stream. We don’t have large land banks and it is a huge cost to service a site and we have to then carry that debt for a number of years.” 

She clarified that the Mayo Abbey sites would not be for social housing and the council would sell the serviced sites at a discount to prospective homeowners, who then need to be able to afford a mortgage and secure planning permission.

“We need to think of this as another string to our bow,” she added.

Cllr Barrett said he did not think the council as a whole was “grasping the seriousness” of the housing crisis for working families who are struggling to pay their bills.

“We will never satisfy the housing needs at our current pace. Airbnb is taking property off the market and a lot of young couples are now facing the threat of going to emergency accommodation in Charlestown," he said.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.