Demand for social housing waiting in Fingal rises a further 6%

         Over 7,000 people are now waiting for social housing in the North County
​Local Fianna Fáil TD, Darragh O’Brien has said that despite all the Government’s recent showboating, the number of people on Fingal County Council’s housing list has increased by 6% in just 12 months.


The latest social housing waiting list figures indicate that the number of people currently in need of a home in the Fingal area increased from 6,858 in 2016 to 7,271.


Commenting on the figures, Deputy O’Brien said, “It has been over two years since the Government launched its policy, Re-Building Ireland to much fanfare and which committed to deliver 30,000 new build homes.


“Despite the fact that these record figures do not even account for the households who have transferred to the HAP scheme, they still expose Fine Gael’s deep seated ideological opposition to the delivery of public housing.


“Since 2011, just 6,000 new social houses have been built across the entire country and so it is of little surprise that the number of people waiting over seven years for social housing has risen by over 7%.


“It is absolutely apparent that the Minister and his Department must urgently re-assess its policy in order to increase the supply of social and affordable housing.  


“Measures such as the establishment of a new Housing Delivery Agency, the allocation of additional capital funding and an expansion of the current 20% Part V have the potential to increase the provision of social housing to 10,000 per year.


Deputy O’Brien concluded, “One thing is clear, house prices in Fingal are rising rapidly beyond affordability and the demand for social housing is increasing as a consequence. This aspect of the housing crisis needs to be acknowledged by those in Government.”