Social Housing List Keeps Rising
Sinn Féin councillor Thomas Gould last night reiterated that the council’s housing policy has failed, as the number of families waiting for housing in the city rose to 8,400.
Cllr Gould said:
“Every month since I have been elected to this council, around 200 additional families have come onto the housing list, while maybe 40 applicants have been offered housing.”
“You don’t have to be Einstein to figure out that at this rate, we will never make any inroads into the housing problem in Cork. Indeed the number on the housing list is now equal to the entire stock of houses owned by the council.”
“There needs to be a recognition that the current policy is a failure, and a commitment to work together to find solution.”
“Last July, Cork Sinn Féin published our own set of proposals on how to deal with the housing crisis. But we would be happy to engage with everyone in the council chamber to sit down and come up with a way of dealing with this issue.”
“Otherwise the number on the housing list will simply continue to rise, to 10,000 by the end of next year and beyond.”
“Recently a government report indicated that Cork has the highest number of ghost estates of any county in Ireland. It is disgraceful that we have up to 300,000 properties across the state lying idle while families are waiting years for a house. Many of these vacant properties are in NAMA, or soon will be. It is time to take the keys off the developers and hand them to families who are in need of a home.”
For further information or comment contact Cllr Thomas Gould @ 087-3021551
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