"Why not a Longford auctioneer?" Questions raised over council appointment

With news that 25 new houses on the Ballinalee Road will soon be going up for sale under the Affordable Housing Scheme, there was some surprise expressed that an auctioneer based in Athlone, as opposed to one in Longford, had been appointed to oversee the valuation of the units.  

Following an informative presentation delivered by Director of Services Samantha Healy, Cllr Gerry Hagan questioned why a Longford-based auctioneer had not been selected for the project.

“I do believe there are a large number of auctioneers here in our town and county,” he pointed out. 

Read More: 25 new builds in Longford Town to go on sale under the Affordable Housing Scheme

In response to Cllr Hagan, Ms Healy explained, “In terms of the appointment of the auctioneer, given that this is the first large-scale private development in the county for over 17 years, and one in an affordable scheme, we selected an auctioneer that had experience. It would be the intention that we would learn through this process and be able to work with our local auctioneers in terms of future schemes."

"The success of this scheme will lead to future affordable schemes throughout the county and the team are already looking at potential other areas that we could be doing that in.” 

Ms Healy added that this was a learning process for all as the council “doesn’t typically sell houses.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme

Read More: “We risk losing working families!” Call for balance between social and affordable housing in Longford