TD: ‘The numbers just don’t add up’
A Cork TD has called for more social housing after thousands of bids were received for less than 100 homes in a seven-week period this year.
Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, yesterday called on the Minister for Housing to support Cork City Council to ramp up supply of social homes in the city.
Deputy Gould’s call comes as a document released to him by Cork City Council under the Freedom of Information Act, showed that there were over 15,000 bids on just 75 homes during a Choice Based Lettings (CBL) period in Cork earlier this year.
CBL is a method used for allocating council properties.
The deputy described the numbers as “shocking” and said they clearly show that there is a huge demand in Cork city for safe, secure housing.
“We cannot begin to understand the devastating impacts that not having a safe, secure home has on children and their families,” said Mr Gould.
“There is an entire generation of children growing up now who live in overcrowded accommodation or in unsuitable rental accommodation. Many of these children miss out on the basics of childhood – housing uncertainty stops them from having friends to their homes, it leaves them travelling long distances to attend school and it prevents them from joining local community and sport organisations. We will see the consequences of this housing emergency for years to come,” he added.
Deputy Gould went on to say that he feels “deeply concerned” that housing lists in Cork city are just getting longer and that wait times for social housing are now completely out of control.
He continued: “People often contact my office just after midnight when these properties go up on the CBL. They wait up because they are desperate and because they need somewhere to live.
“The numbers just don’t add up. There are currently 240 homes in construction in Cork city, a further 197 are to go on site this year. These won’t even begin to cover the number of families bidding on each home on the CBL,” added Teachta Gould.
On top of the shocking numbers, Deputy Gould said the February Chief Executive report from Cork City Council showed an additional 118 new applicants for social housing.
“The number of homes available in this seven-week period aren’t even enough for those who came onto the list in February. This is a situation that is completely out of control,” said the deputy.
“On average, these figures suggest that over 200 families are bidding on each property available in the city. There were 14 individual houses on the CBL that saw over 500 families bid on each of them. That is the stark reality of this housing crisis,” he concluded.