Housing crisis in Mayo: council urged to build 400 affordable homes over the next 4 years
The Housing Strategic Policy Committee of Mayo County Council met yesterday to discuss issues related to the ongoing housing crisis in the county. They discussed affordable housing and were informed of a plans for a development in Castlebar.
The scheme, put forward by a private developer, would see 20 affordable homes built in two phases of ten units. It would include a mix of two and three-bedroom houses.
An application for government funding is currently being prepared. The plan aims to have the first ten houses ready by early next year, with the remaining ten by late 2026 or early 2027.
However, councillors questioned why the application is being phased at all.
Cllr Peter Flynn said the approach lacked ambition: “To talk today about ten units next year for Castlebar is completely off the charts in terms of delivering what we require. Surely we should be talking about three figures, at least 100 homes in the next 12 to 18 months.”
Cllr Michael Kilcoyne called the proposed ten-home phase “an insult” to the more than 700 people who expressed interest in affordable housing in a council-led survey three years ago.
He added that 20 homes “wouldn’t put a dent in the need” for affordable homes in Mayo.
Another developer has also expressed interest in building affordable homes in Castlebar. But several councillors argued the local authority should not be relying solely on private developers.
At the September monthly meeting, Mayo County Council approved the zoning of an additional 470 acres of land in line with the Department of Housing’s new planning guidelines announced in July.
Cllr Brendan Mulroy urged the council to be proactive with the newly zoned land: “Let's be proactive, let's get a loan. No one will blame us for going into debt if we are building houses left, right, and centre.
“Affordability is the way to go now, alongside social housing. We have been proactive in relation to social housing across the county, now it's time for the affordability to step up,” he said.
Council officials confirmed that affordable housing on council-owned land is under active consideration, with a proposed development in Westport currently being considered that would include 11 affordable and 11 social units.
Cllr Neil Cruise said housing is “the number one issue in the county” and agreed that borrowing to fund new developments would be justified.
He also took aim at the social housing income thresholds, calling them “outdated”, stating: “The income limit should only be a weighted part of the application process; it shouldn’t be the be-all and end-all.”
He pointed out that many households with two adults working full-time on minimum wage are now locked out of social housing, adding further pressure to the affordable market.
Director of Services for Housing, Tom Gilligan, voiced his frustration at the lack of clear government targets for affordable housing.
Mr Gilligan said: “What is even more frustrating, last year we did flip a number of social houses to affordable. If we had left them as social housing, it would’ve increased our [target] percentage and we would have been higher up the league table.”
That was a total of five affordable housing units.
Cllr Flynn said they should set their own targets in the absence of national direction, suggesting Mayo should aim to deliver 400 affordable homes over the lifetime of the current council, the equivalent of 100 per year.
This target will be run alongside a new interest survey to understand the need for affordable housing in Mayo.
He said he would be taking that target recommendation back to the Fine Gael Minister Alan Dillon and Fine Gael TD Keira Keogh.
Mr Gilligan cautioned that delivering such numbers would require far greater involvement from approved housing bodies (AHBs), which he said currently have “a low level of activity” in Mayo and across the western region.
The discussion highlighted deep frustration at the scale and pace of affordable housing delivery in Mayo.
While councillors welcomed progress on the Castlebar and Westport proposals, they warned that low-scale delivery of the proposed phased schemes fell far short of demand.
The meeting concluded with councillors agreeing to recommend seeking a loan in the upcoming November budget, set a local target of 400 affordable homes over the next four years, and commission a new survey to understand the county’s true need for affordable housing.
This article was funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.