Renewed Mayo plea for action on vacancy and dereliction

A Mayo elected representative has issued a renewed plea for wants on vacancy and dereliction in towns throughout the county.

Councillor Harry Barrett stated: "I have been dealing with a family of five that will be moving into homeless accommodation very shortly because their landlord wants the property back and there are no houses left in the town to house them.

"All the while we have thousands of vacant homes and thousands of derelict properties in the county.

"Mayo County Council will have to get real about homelessness.

Councillor Barrett was speaking after making a number of interventions on the family's behalf and being told that there is nothing available to house the family to avert their impending homelessness situation

He continued: "If people realised the extent of the housing crisis in this county they would be shocked at the lack of housing availability in the rental sector.

"This poor family will suffer as a result of the failure to put in place a proper housing strategy in this county over the last 30 years.

"There will have to be a serious discussion on ramping up efforts to build more homes and to renovate the shocking levels of derelict houses we have in this county, we're near the top with 2,924.

"I am also shocked at the level of vacancy in this county.

"CSO figures tell me there are 3,910 vacant homes in Mayo, that are not holiday homes that were vacant in 2016 and again in 2022.

'There has to be a way of getting these properties on to the market again.

"More action on the huge levels of vacancy and dereliction in this town and county is needed, not enough is being done about it and I'll be putting down a motion at the next meeting to seriously ramp up the pressure to use the laws all ready there to deal with this."