Affordable housing survey opens across County Mayo as council assesses demand
Mayo County Council has launched an Expressions of Interest survey for affordable housing as it begins the process of assessing demand across the county.
The survey went live on Tuesday, March 10, and will remain open until Friday, April 10.
The council said the initiative will help it to “gain clearer insights into the level of demand” for affordable homes among individuals and households throughout Mayo.
It is aimed at people interested in purchasing a home under the Affordable Housing Scheme, and officials say the results will give the local authority a clearer picture of current housing need.
Separately, the council is seeking expressions of interest from developers interested in partnering with the local authority to deliver affordable units in towns where schemes have already been approved.
The announcement of the survey comes amid mounting pressure to expand affordable housing beyond the county’s largest towns, with councillors warning that soaring prices are locking younger buyers out of the market, particularly in rural areas.
Currently, the only areas in Mayo deemed eligible for an Affordable Housing Scheme are Castlebar, Westport and Ballina.
At the March meeting of Mayo County Council, Cllr Gerry Murray questioned what type of threshold towns and villages must meet in order to qualify for an affordable scheme.
Cllr Murray, who represents the Swinford area of the Claremorris and Swinford Municipal District, currently the only district without an approved scheme, said there has been a “significant increase in house prices in small towns” over the past 18 months.
He said a three-bedroom home in east Mayo can go on the open market for €330,000, and warned that young people in these areas are being put at a disadvantage as they won’t have the “same opportunities as their counterparts in Castlebar, Ballina and Westport”.
In response, Director of Services Tom Gilligan said affordability thresholds in Mayo are not fixed and are determined under the Affordable Housing Act (2021) and the Affordable Housing Regulations (2023).
He said two main criteria apply: the income mortgage capacity of a household and the market value of homes within a specific development.
Mr Gilligan noted that Mayo County Council did not receive an affordable housing delivery target from the Department of Housing, meaning the local authority has had to find alternative routes to deliver affordable units.
Schemes approved to date have required detailed business cases submitted to the Department, supported by independent financial reports from Irish firm KPMG.
Mr Gilligan said successful business cases have been made for Westport, where five units have been delivered, and Castlebar, where 35 affordable units were given the green light last week.
Following the approval of a scheme in Ballina, expressions of interest from developers are currently being sought. The council is also preparing a case for Claremorris.
Mr Gilligan said he hopes there will be more good news regarding getting more towns across Mayo over the approval line.
At the latest Housing SPC meeting, members expressed frustration that the council had to seek help from firms like KPMG in order to develop affordable units.
Cllr Neil Cruise highlighted Foxford, saying the town had a “golden opportunity” to apply for affordable housing, but questioned the logic of requiring further applications and consultancy reports to confirm demand that is already evident.
He stressed the need to deliver affordable schemes in smaller towns and villages.
At the same meeting, Cllr Harry Barrett raised concerns about the local authority’s reliance on developer-led schemes.
He called on the council to take responsibility for building affordable homes directly and questioned “what passes as affordable” under developer-led schemes.
Cllr Barrett has repeatedly highlighted the growing number of “working poor” in the county when outlining the need for more affordable housing.
Using this term, he refers to individuals and young families in full-time work who pay into the economy but are over the income threshold for social housing, yet still unable to buy on the open market.
He has called on the council to develop large-scale affordable sites itself and said modular homes could help accelerate delivery.
Members of the SPC agreed that the delivery of five units in Westport in 2025, the only affordable homes delivered in the county in the past 11 years, has left a significant gap in the market.
The council is urging anyone interested in purchasing an affordable home in Mayo to complete the Expressions of Interest survey before the April 10 deadline.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.