Call on minister to lower income limits for social housing

THE Minister for Housing has been asked to review income limits for social and affordable housing.

The call comes from Mayo County Council after Councillor Annie May Reape tabled a notice of motion seeking the review.

As it stands, a single person cannot earn more than €25,000 to qualify for social housing. For a couple with two children the income limit is €27,500.

Those figures, Councillor Reape told the council's monthly meeting, excludes so many people from social housing, and they can't access affordable housing, and so they are left renting.

Supporting the motion, Councillor Christy Hyland said this has been an ongoing problem for a long number of years.

“People can't get a mortgage and they can't get help from the local authority. It's ridiculous,” he said.

The affordable housing situation is a 'disgrace', and he regularly had people on the phone to him who are in the €40,000 wage bracket.

Prices in every town are different, he added, and one sizes does not fit all.

The income limits should be doubled, Councillor Michael Kilcoyne suggested.

He claimed the limits were only put in to reduce waiting lists, as anyone above it was not going to be on a list.

If a couple were both on the national minimum wage they would not be eligible for social housing.

Affordable housing was something they could address within the council, said Councillor Peter Flynn.

He pointed out that if you earned under €30,000 there were supports such as RAS and HAP available, and maybe social housing. Earn above that and you had 'zero' available to you.

Councillor Flynn tabled his own notice of motion that any council led developments of 20 houses or more should include a minimum of 60% affordable housing or low-cost housing sites to cater for families earning over the housing supports upper limit of €30,000.

He was told there is currently no application type process in place to allow the council identify the demand for affordable housing or low-cost sites. Until a new affordable hosing scheme is announced and the guidance of that scheme is issued by the department, the council could not at this time consider setting aside a minimum of 60% in any of its developments.