Louth affordable houses available on first come first served basis

Louth County Council's affordable housing scheme, which comprises ten semi-detached houses at Cois Farraige in Blackrock, was being carried out on a first come first served basis, councillors were told at the Dundalk Municipal District February meeting.

Cllr Marianne Butler raised the matter at the February meeting, asking if people who intended to apply for one of the houses, were fully up to date on what they need to do to be one of the first ten. 

Senior Executive Officer, John Lawrence, told the meeting in reply, that they were pleased to see the scheme open, which was being done on a first come first served basis. He said that application process is being done online and applicants would not be able to submit an application unless it was fully completed the whole way through.

Mr Lawrence said that the market value of the house was €380,000 and that the discount under the affordable housing scheme was up to €75,000, with Help to Buy on top of that as well. He added that 30% of the properties have been set aside for people who qualifies as a Louth resident, i.e. someone who has been living here five years.

The Senior Executive Officer went on to say that there had been some interest in the scheme, and that they had been "busy enough" in relation to enquiries concerning the development. 

Mr Lawrence acknowledged that "it's still an expensive house, there's no doubt about that and it will be interesting to see how many will actually qualify because people need a 10% deposit as well", and recommended that before applicants apply, to "at least mortgage approval in principle".

Adding that Louth Council hasn't had an affordable housing scheme "in many many years", Mr Lawence said they hope that there's going to be a lot of people from County Louth who are in the first ten who go through.

He further added that they are interested in speaking with parties who have new housing schemes on the way, to explore with them the option of further developments, "because there is definitely an affordable housing need in County Louth", and "if we get this up and running hopefully we will have many more in the future."