This article is from page 2 of the 2013-08-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
AN INVESTMENT of less than € 800,000 would be enough to secure homes for 55 Clare families, many of whom have been on the waiting list for a number of years.
According the figures obtained from Clare County Council, there are currently 55 local authority houses out of commission in Clare – and in need of only minor works to being them back into circulation.
A needs assessment carried out by the council earlier this year revealed that there are currently 1,671 peo- ple in need of social housing in the county. While the cash-strapped local authority has had some success securing funding for housing in recent weeks, it is unclear when they will have finding available to bring all of these houses back into their housing stock.
Clare County Council was granted € 500,000 last week for the provision of six houses for people with special needs, while it also secured sizable funding for house retrofitting – which will upgrade the insulation on 250 social houses – earlier this month.
“As at mid-year a total of 55 social housing units are vacant but this fig- ure is subject to change on a weekly basis as vacant units are returned to stock and units become newly vacated. The estimated cost of returning 55 units to stock is € 775,000, or approximately € 14,000 per unit,” said Bernadette Kinsella, Director of Services with Clare County Council.
Meanwhile, the Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) have shortlisted Glensheen Court, developed by Banner Housing Association for the 2013 Social Housing Awards.
Glensheen Court is a housing project for people with disabilities located within 1km of Ennis town. Each apartment in the development apartment includes two bedrooms, two accessible bathrooms, along with a kitchen/living area with each apartment having a private open space area to the rear.
A number of special safety features have also been incorporated into the scheme to enhance tenant safety and security including front door keypad, visual telecom along with alarms in each bathroom. The Banner Housing Association is a non-profit charitable organisation based in Ennis.
The winners will be announced at a gala dinner held at the ICSH National Social Housing Conference which takes place on September 18.