‘Beyond scandalous’ - Huge anger in Longford as 50 council houses sit vacant

There are 50 vacant council houses in county Longford with almost half of those lying empty for over six months and the situation is ‘beyond scandalous’ and an 'insult' to local people impacted by the housing crisis.

That is the view of Longford-Westmeath TD Sorca Clarke, who has criticised the government for "failing to resource local authorities and allowing public homes to lie empty in the middle of a housing crisis".

The Sinn Féin TD has insisted more funding needs to be provided to county councils as FOI data released to her party by local authorities shows the number of council homes that are currently boarded up across the State.

“There is nothing more insulting to those impacted by the housing crisis than the sight of a good home left empty.

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Each of these homes should have a family living in them, with their children growing up in those four walls. 

"Instead, these homes are empty and children are growing up in hotels. 

"That is beyond scandalous," she added.

A breakdown of the vacant council homes in county Longford showed 50 were vacant out of a total housing stock of 2,267 with 26 lying empty for up to six months and 13 empty between six and 12-months.

Five units have been vacant for 12-to-18 months and six have been empty for between 18 and 24-months.

Deputy Clarke said she is sick and tired of the government's 'excuses and broken promises' and she claimed 'they try to blame everyone but themselves' for the crisis.

"The reality is that this is an issue in all local authorities and in far too many communities because of their failings. 

"They do not provide enough funding to maintain homes and they do not provide enough funding to return them to use.

“Families in Longford are crying out for homes while perfectly good homes have been left to rot.

"We know that these cause dumping and anti-social behaviour. 

Also read: Housing shortage crisis: Just 12 properties available to rent in Longford

"They stigmatise decent communities and for people in Longford they are a constant reminder of the government's failures."

Deputy Clarke insisted the local authority should be funded to do their job, but instead "red-tape and bureaucracy coupled with underfunding leave homes empty for years" in Longford.

“One in every 46 houses in Longford are vacant. 

"Thirteen of these homes have been vacant between six months to a year, five of them have been vacant between a year and a year and a half, and six of them have been lying vacant for almost two years.

“These empty homes are a constant reminder of the failures of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.  If they cared about our communities, about families and about children growing up in hotels, these homes would not be empty for years on end," she concluded.

Also read: Longford allocated funding of €350,579 to upgrade social housing stock

Longford County Council responded and a spokesperson said the social housing vacancy rate is currently 2.3%.

The spokesperson continued, "It is noteworthy that Longford has achieved a drop in vacancy rate from 7.19% in 2021 to the current rate of 2.3%. This is a very welcome trend and Longford County Council continues to work to decrease the vacancy rate.

"Longford County Council is actively working to reduce the number of empty/vacant social housing (Void) properties, by implementing a planned programme of work to tackle vacancy and dereliction and to ensure vacant properties are returned for social housing use.

"Void Properties may be empty for various reasons and the time taken to return units into occupancy is dependent on a number of factors including, but not limited to, the condition of the property when returned to the Council and the upgrade works required - such as energy retrofit works and/or adaptations to meet special requirements.

Also read: Housing supply in Longford plummets to 'an all time low' while rents soar

"The NOAC national indicators, published every year, show that the vacant social housing rate is falling, and is lower than the total national vacant housing stock (public and private). The most recent NOAC report –shows that vacant social housing stock on 31 December each year has fallen from 3.18% in 2020 to 2.81% on 31 December 2023."