This article is from page 74 of the 2010-02-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 74 JPG
EVEN at knock down prices, Clare County Council is unable to sell its affordable housing stock as numbers on the housing list exceed 2,400. New figures provided by the coun- cil show numbers on the housing list have increased by 40 per cent from 1,716 to 2,408. However, that figure includes those on rent allowance, who in order to qualify for the allow- ance must go on the housing list. Excluding those who are on the list to secure rent allowances, there were 1,594 on the list on January | — an in- crease of 30 per cent on the 1,218 that were on the list at the start of 2009. Special Policy Committee Chair- woman, Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said the increased numbers were “extremely worrying and a cause of
concern’.
‘There are real people behind these statistics. There is no way that the council can keep up with the de- mand, but we are managing as best we can. The numbers on the list are high and will continue to get higher,” she said.
The council completed 87 social houses in 2009 and 91 in 2008. A further ten affordable houses were provided through agreement with de- velopers but with the collapse in the housing market, the number of af- fordable homes completed under this scheme dropped to just two.
The council expects to complete 16 affordable homes in 2010 in Shan- non, where there is a strong demand for affordable homes.
However, uncertainty surrounds the number of new house starts for
2010 as local authorities are await- ing a capital allocation for 2010 from the Department of the Environment in relation to the social housing con- struction programme’.
The council has also confirmed that it has 15 unsold affordable homes for sale dispersed over eight locations.
A council spokeswoman – said: ‘These have been for sale for an av- erage of one year. The council has responded to changing market cond1- tions by reducing the purchase price of affordable homes. The reduction in price varies but averages at 15 per cent to 20 per cent below the market price,’ she said.