Concern over new statistics revealing Mayo's poor house building record

The level of house building in the Claremorris Municipal District needs to increase if it is to meet local needs, according to local election candidate, Fine Gael's Alma Gallagher.

Her remarks come as new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) revealed 117 housing units were completed in the area in 2023.

Only 23 units were completed across the area in the most recent quarter (Q4 2023), compared with 42 units in Q3, 30 in Q2 and 22 in Q1.

Nationally a total of 32,695 new dwellings were completed in 2023.

The data also showed the level of house building activity within the main local urban areas.

In Ballyhaunis only four new housing units were completed, all of which were single units.

In the Ballinrobe urban area only two housing units were completed, both single units.

In Ballindine 14 units were finished, which included seven scheme units, six apartments and 1 single unit.

For Claremorris, 33 units were built which included 28 scheme houses, four apartments and one single unit. In Knock only a single housing unit was completed, while zero units were finished in Irishtown.

Although the overall total for 2023 represented an increase on the 78 units that were completed across the area the previous year, Ms. Gallagher, who is also manager of Clár ICH - an approved voluntary housing association in Claremorris - believes we need to see more building if the needs of the local population are going to be met.

“While it was positive to see the number of completed units grow in the area last year, the reality is that we still need a lot more housing if we’re going to meet the needs of the local population.

"Ask anyone in Ballyhaunis, Claremorris, Ballinrobe or elsewhere about how difficult it is to secure accommodation at present and they will tell you. The supply simply isn’t there.

“Young families are struggling to find homes and people working in the area can’t secure local accommodation. Given the population of the area is now in the region of 30,000 people, we will need to see the level of building ramp up significantly if these shortfalls are going to be addressed.

“Social housing also needs to be a key part of that activity. Another indicator of the lack of accommodation is the growing number of older people on social housing waiting lists.

"Nationally, charities Alone and Threshold have been warning about this issue, reporting an 83% rise in the number of people over 65 renting from private landlords between 2016 and 2022.

"Alone has also said there has been a 40% rise in older people facing housing difficulties. I can tell you from my work with Clár we are also seeing these problems locally.

“Unless the level of activity starts to rise, all these issues will exacerbate. I will be pressing to see this problem addressed and especially to see what more can be done to bring forward additional social housing for the people of the area,” Ms. Gallagher added.