Sharp rise in Meath’s social housing stock as retrofits and maintenance drives pay off
Meath has seen a significant rise in its housing stock, growing from 2,862 units in 2021 to 4,649 units by 2025, councillors have heard.
At the September meeting of Meath County Council, Sinn Féin councillor Helen Meyer asked about the year-on-year increase in housing units and whether the housing maintenance staff had increased alongside this growth.
In the council’s response, they said new homes have been added steadily each year, with 491 in 2022, 518 in 2023, 556 in 2024, and 222 constructed so far in 2025.
The council also confirmed that while the maintenance demand for newly built homes is “minimal”—mainly limited to annual service checks—the housing maintenance budget increases each year to reflect the larger housing stock.
“It should also be noted that the budget for housing maintenance increases year on year based on the housing stock numbers,” the local authority said.
“There has also been substantial investment in carrying out energy retrofits and stock condition surveys to the existing housing stock with the results of the stock conditions surveys helping inform a programme of planned maintenance.”
They added: “Accordingly, the staffing numbers in Housing Maintenance have increased from 7 to 13 since 2022.”