From Galway Bay FM newsroom- Galway City Council is tasked with providing 1,235 social houses in the period from 2022 to 2027 as part of the Government's 'Housing for All' strategy.
Councillors were told at their meeting this week that it is a challenging target but that there is confidence that it can be met.
Council senior official, Dermot Mahon said an average of 250 social residences per annum had been provided in the City over the last 3 years. The projections were for between 200 and 300 new dwellings per year from now until the end of 2026. He also pointed out that an average of 60 to 70 homes per year become vacant and that this would provide more scope to house those on the lists.
City Mayor, Colette Connolly said there were probably about 15,000 people awaiting social dwellings in the City given that there are over 4,000 applications on the waiting list.
However, Dermot Mahon stated that about 50% of the 4,184 applications on the list were from single person households and that the general demand was for one and two bedroom houses.
In referring to anti-social behaviour, Mr Mahon said there had been 461 complaints last year; 329 were resolved with 3 repossessions in the end. Mr Mahon said that people who are evicted for anti social behaviour render themselves homeless.
