Housing Waiting List In Swords
As of August 2013 there are close to 2,000 people on the waiting list for Social housing in the Swords area alone. In the whole of Fingal there are 10,000 on the list. The waiting time for from the time you put your name on the list until you get a house is up to 8 years.
Somebody who applies for social housing in Swords may not be actually given a property in Swords but may be offered a house in Balbriggan or Blanchardstown for example. And just because you were born and reared in an area doesn't give you the right to be housed in that area.
Say for example you have been waiting a number of years for a house from the council and you have two children, you rise up the ladder to the top of the list, then someone from Latvia comes along with 4 children. Well the way the council looks at this is that the person from Latvia is in greater need than you are and skips you and gets a house before you. Then you rise up the list again but the very same situation may happen again.
Only In Ireland I hear you say ?
With 2,000 people on the list in Swords and with the government funding a total of 18 social houses in 2013 for the whole of Fingal it will take about 140 years to clear the list.
The council's policy of simply building houses for the locals is long gone. No longer do Fingal Council build housing estates for those on the waiting list but prefer to give €800 per month to private landlords for each house. When the council did build the council houses they made money on rent from their tenants. This made the council a profit and the money was simple used to build more homes as they were needed. It was a simple solution that worked for 100 years or more.
Alas there are vested interests involved in the private sector who are also involved with local councils who would loose a lot of money if ever a county council went back to simply building houses for those in need of them. Have you ever wondered why the councils stopped people putting caravans in the back gardens or allowed caravan parks to provide temporary accommodation ? Well again it's those with a vested interest who wouldn't make money from these simple solutions.
Somebody who applies for social housing in Swords may not be actually given a property in Swords but may be offered a house in Balbriggan or Blanchardstown for example. And just because you were born and reared in an area doesn't give you the right to be housed in that area.
Say for example you have been waiting a number of years for a house from the council and you have two children, you rise up the ladder to the top of the list, then someone from Latvia comes along with 4 children. Well the way the council looks at this is that the person from Latvia is in greater need than you are and skips you and gets a house before you. Then you rise up the list again but the very same situation may happen again.
Only In Ireland I hear you say ?
With 2,000 people on the list in Swords and with the government funding a total of 18 social houses in 2013 for the whole of Fingal it will take about 140 years to clear the list.
The council's policy of simply building houses for the locals is long gone. No longer do Fingal Council build housing estates for those on the waiting list but prefer to give €800 per month to private landlords for each house. When the council did build the council houses they made money on rent from their tenants. This made the council a profit and the money was simple used to build more homes as they were needed. It was a simple solution that worked for 100 years or more.
Alas there are vested interests involved in the private sector who are also involved with local councils who would loose a lot of money if ever a county council went back to simply building houses for those in need of them. Have you ever wondered why the councils stopped people putting caravans in the back gardens or allowed caravan parks to provide temporary accommodation ? Well again it's those with a vested interest who wouldn't make money from these simple solutions.
In 2012 the council spent over €11,000000 on the restoration of Malahide Castle alone. Think of all the houses that could be built for that price ? The price of building land has not being as cheap in 40 years. It costs around €80,000 to build a 3 bed room house so taking into account the price of the land, roads and other infrastructure a small housing estate of 110 houses could have been built just for the price paid to restore Malahide Castle. - The Mind Boggles.
Ask yourself, if you were in charge of providing so called social housing in the Swords area would you hand out €800 per month to pay the mortgage of a private landlord or would you build the houses and get a monthly rent of approx. €400 ? It's a ''No Brainer'' .
The present government who provide funding to the local councils said during the last election that they would eliminate waste to save money as our country is borrowing close to a billion a week. Well if they would only force every local council in Ireland to build houses for the people and stop paying the mortgage for private rented accommodation the government would save several hundred million a month.
Ask yourself, if you were in charge of providing so called social housing in the Swords area would you hand out €800 per month to pay the mortgage of a private landlord or would you build the houses and get a monthly rent of approx. €400 ? It's a ''No Brainer'' .
The present government who provide funding to the local councils said during the last election that they would eliminate waste to save money as our country is borrowing close to a billion a week. Well if they would only force every local council in Ireland to build houses for the people and stop paying the mortgage for private rented accommodation the government would save several hundred million a month.
Report:The Number Of Social Housing To Be Built In The Next 2 Years
Social housing units are provided in a number of ways e.g. construction,
purchase, leasing, casual vacancies and the use of unsold affordable units. In
recent years leasing (Rental Accommodation and Long-term leasing schemes)
has been the primary source of new social units with direct provision through
construction providing a reducing number of new units. At present the Council
has approval to build 2 new social units in the Swords Balbriggan area in
2014/15. Fingal County Council.
Social housing units are provided in a number of ways e.g. construction,
purchase, leasing, casual vacancies and the use of unsold affordable units. In
recent years leasing (Rental Accommodation and Long-term leasing schemes)
has been the primary source of new social units with direct provision through
construction providing a reducing number of new units. At present the Council
has approval to build 2 new social units in the Swords Balbriggan area in
2014/15. Fingal County Council.