Flexibility needed in social housing allocations, says Mayo councillor

COUNCILS should be given an element of flexibility in allocating social housing, with income limits abolished.

It would help people who currently fall between two stools - earning too much to qualify for a council property but not enough to get a mortgage.

The council mortgage for Mayo - set at €275,000 - also needs to be raised with the minister, Councillor Christy Hyland has suggested. It is of no use in Westport, for example, where you won't get a property for this price.

He told of a situation where a young couple were reducing their working hours so that they might qualify for social housing. When this was happening there is 'something seriously wrong', he suggested.

Get rid of the income bands, he proposed, and go back to the old system where each case was judged on its merits.

Fresh Starts was another scheme where no one has succeeded in availing of it, he continued.

Where a relationship breaks down, you can avail of this if you have no financial interest in the previous family home.

The reality, he said, is that a person will still be contributing to the mortgage on that home and so availing of Fresh Start is 'an impossibility'.

“Go back to the old system,” he suggested. Get the head of housing to write to the department on it.

Councillor Gerry Coyle said he had proposed at a previous meeting that a percentage of social homes be allocated for those people falling between two stools.

He was told an enquiry will be made with the head of housing to see if it is possible to step outside the eligibility criteria in certain cases.