Sharp drop in numbers on housing list

There has been a sharp drop in the numbers on the housing list in Westmeath this year, members of the county council heard at their annual estimates meeting last week. Figures fell from 1,676 at the beginning of the year to 1,298 in September.

Cllr Frank McDermott welcomed the provision of 10 houses in Castlepollard by the council. He called on the council to buy land in Delvin and Clonmellon for major developments and asked them to provide more two-bedroom houses suited to single parents to meet a strong demand.

In reply, Mark Keaveney, director of services, announced that five of the houses in Castlepollard would be ready this year and the other five early next years. He said that the council was examining the possibility of acquiring land in Delvin and that many of their new houses were two-bedroom to cater for the demand the councillor had referred to.

Mr Keaveney said the numbers on the housing list were dropping because the council was delivering more homes. He hoped to see a fall-off in the need for emergency accommodation for the homeless in the next year or so.

Cllr Denis Leonard claimed that often times when a council tenant leaves, they leave tens of thousands of euro worth of damage behind, but this was refuted by James Dalton, head of finance. He said that he did not deny that it does happen, but it is unusual.

In reply to a request from Cllr Tom Farrell that the council increase the number of improvements it makes to local authority houses, particularly in the replacement of doors and windows, Mr Dalton said that the council are continuing to expand their maintenance programme. They intend doing surveys on an on-going basis and to set targets and objectives for the next one to two years.

The council has a significant amount of relatively new houses and it has upgraded doors and windows in between 1,200 and 1,300 houses, he added.

Mr Dalton stressed that the council must balance its budget, not just in numerical terms but in the allocation of resources. We must make sure the money we allocate is spent wisely, he said adding that they will probably never have enough money.