Mayo families on the brink due to crippling rental crisis
by Caoimhín Rowland
A crippling housing rental crisis is hitting Mayo families hard.
There are are currently 45 houses available to rent on Daft.ie, with 12 in both Ballina and Castlebar, and eight properties in Westport.
However, not a single property listed online falls within the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) threshold of €520 a month for a family home. In most cases, the private rental market is listing properties at three times that price.
“A reality check is needed,” declared Councillor Harry Barrett, who warns that the housing issue in Castlebar is “already getting much worse.”
The councillor spoke about a family he has been supporting who are set to enter homelessness, stating, “Mayo County Council will put them up in a homelessness hostel in Charlestown.”
He also mentioned a man he knows who has been couch-surfing for months, “He’s effectively homeless and not within the figures we see. He works, but earns too much for social housing.”
Colm Cafferkey, the Mayo representative of the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU), pointed to the high dereliction rates in the county.
“There might be 45 homes on Daft, but there are 9,000 vacant or derelict homes in Mayo, the second highest in the country,” the Achill-based activist added.
Cafferkey described a “lost generation in their twenties” that he sees in his rural area.
“The funny thing is, nowadays there are jobs for young people, but it’s the housing. There’s no issue getting short-term housing or holiday lets, but the vacancy and dereliction, on top of Airbnbs, is not giving any young people the opportunity to stay.”
Cafferkey also highlighted the impact on young families, noting that “school numbers are going down in rural areas, and more GAA teams are amalgamating due to the lack of young people.
All of the population is being driven into the towns, with little help for people looking to settle down in rural parts of county Mayo."
Councillor Barrett emphasised that the upcoming general election should focus on the most pressing issue facing society, housing.
“It’s daily that I hear traumatic stories of peril for families. People are out there suffering, and not enough is being done. We really must look at modular housing as a solution before more people are lost to homelessness and emigration.”
Addressing HAP, Cafferkey noted the challenges in getting landlords to accept it. “There’s a huge stigma, and it’s no longer in the landlords' interest to accept it as they can fetch much more on the private market.”
Barrett concluded by pointing out the disconnect between market rents and low wages, stating: “It’s totally out of kilter, and we’re just sending people away instead of dealing with the problem here at home.”