Two social housing schemes will provide 36 homes in Mayo
Achill councillor Paul McNamara has acknowledged the good work done by Mayo County Council in relation to the provision of social housing in the area in recent times.
He told members of Westport Belmullet MD at their March meeting: “I want to acknowledge the good work done in Mulranny, where16 units are finished and are now in the process of being handed over and also 20 units in Achill.” However, the Achill councillor said he was concerned that the houses would not be allocated to people from the area, who he said should have first preference.
“I hope we don’t see a situation where we have people coming in from other counties or one end of the county taking up residence in these social houses. There are ample people in Mulranny and Achill on the housing list who are living in the area and I hope they are given preference, as well as people that have settled into the community and have children going to local schools.
“I pushed for the council to acquire land in the rural areas on my election and am delighted to see it coming to fruition. The 20 houses in Achill that are also underway, they are of enormous importance to the local area and to the schools and are vital for the community going forwards. Thirty-six houses in the area is a great investment.” In terms of dealing with the housing crisis, Cllr Chris Maxwell asked was there any chance Mayo County Council or Westport MD could put serviced sites on the small council land-banks in the area, “so that people could put their mobile homes or modular homes there in order to help some get a roof over their head.” He said another issue that applied in his own area of Louisburgh, which was “a big holiday area where a lot rent out on airbnb”, was that people felt they were getting “a very negative press on this”.
He added: “There are no hotels back our side so these people are providing a service for the tourism industry. They are providing a place to stay and all they are doing is trying to make a living.” Cllr Peter Flynn queried the rent pressure zone status applied to Westport a number of years back which he understood was due to expire in a number of months and asked: “What is the status on it because it is driving people out of long-term letting because they can’t increase rent beyond the rate of inflation, so it makes financial sense to switch to short-term lets, but for tenants this is counterproductive.” Responding, MD Head Seamus O’Mongain said that in regard to the Achill and Mulranny houses, these would be let on the basis of the letting priorities that apply, which included a recommendation that an applicant should have a connection to the area.
As to airbnb, he said this was a national scheme and he understood a property could be let under it for up to 90 days before it changes from being a private house to a short-term let property.
On the suggestion of serviced sites on council land-banks, he said: “This would open up an awful lot of challenges and risks and would not be something we would be able to consider at this time, no.”
