‘I’ve never seen it so bad’ – Tipperary councillor raises alarm over social housing crisis
Social housing in Tipperary is “in crisis” according to a local representative, who said that he had “never seen it as bad”.
At the July meeting of the Thurles Municipal District, independent councillor Jim Ryan said that he had “never seen it as bad”, and had been getting numerous representations from his constituents about social housing and not being able to find a place to live.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Ryan said that he has people calling into his office every day, ringing and reaching out to him on social media every day on the issue of housing.
"There are people receiving notices to quit, people who are homeless, people who are couch surfing, living with families and overcrowded living situations, people suffering from severe anxiety as a result of the current state that they’re living in,” Cllr Ryan said.
"I never thought in today’s day in age, with so much money out there that we’d be in a situation where people can’t sleep at night, stressed out to the last, they’re on medication in some instances as a result of the situation they find themselves in through no fault of their own.
"We need an action plan, we need to give some hope to these people, I know we are building houses, but it’s not enough, any time there’s houses listed on CBL (Choice Based Letting) there’s a huge number of people expressing an interest in these houses, the demand for houses far exceeds the supply,” Cllr Ryan said.
Choice Based Letting is a system used by Tipperary County Council so those who are on the social housing list and have been approved for homes can express their interest in homes when they become available.
Responding to Cllr Ryan’s calls, representatives from Tipperary County Council’s housing section said that the local authority are aiming to surpass their social housing target this year, and that they are always on the lookout for sites in the district to develop new social housing developments.
"We are hoping to exceed our target by 2026 in relation to the provision of new units, there is some units coming on stream in Thurles this year, that’s what we’re working on,” a representative of the housing section said.
Another representative said that the local authority are “always looking for new sites for new housing developments”.
"In Thurles maybe it looks a bit skewed, but they’re definitely on the list, we have another greenfield site that we’d be hoping to work on soon, and that’s going through to the stage one application at the minute, and we’re constantly looking for new sites, it’s a huge priority for us,” he added.