Just 77 of 623 social housing units for Louth completed

Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams has expressed his frustration at the Department of Housing figures contained in the Q3 status report for 2017, which show that only 77 of the 623 social housing construction projects currently in the pipeline for Louth have been completed .

Commenting on the report Deputy Adams stated;

“Despite the fact we are in the grip of an unprecedented housing crisis this government are still failing to grasp the enormity of the problem.

“They have set very low targets to build badly needed social housing in Louth yet have not backed this up with adequate capital funding or staffing for Local Authorities.

“We have 2465 applications for social housing in Louth, a dire shortage of suitable rental properties and an increase in people accessing emergency shelter.

"The target of 623 planed social housing units if delivered would only meet just over a quarter of the people on current waiting lists .

“Out of a total of 623 planned units, 490 have planning permission of which 299 are on site , yet only 77 have been completed.

"The figures clearly show why the housing crisis is getting worse. Targets are far too low and the process is far too slow.

"We need more ambitious targets backed up with adequate capital funding and staffing for local authorities so that families are housed."