SOME houses lying vacant on unfinished estates in the city could be used for social housing, says Cllr Tom Shortt.
He told a meeting of Limerick City Council this week that with 3,500 on the city’s waiting housing list, a special case could be put to the Department of the Environment that vacant properties be allocated to the council.
“We should be negotiating for the sale or lease of some of these properties – some of them could be used for social housing – we should pursue this,” he urged.
Cllr John Gilligan pointed out that the council did not create the problem of ghost estates.
“Water and sewerage is essential but we do not have the capacity to go in and finish all of the estates, but Cllr Ger Fahy said that Waller’s Close, which has 10 houses, requires just “some outside works remaining to be completed
“As it is, we have vacant houses there which attract anti-social activity and become targeted”.
Cllr Joe Leddin recommended that where there is a genuine problem with the provision of water and sewerage, the estates concerned should be categorised in terms of priority and value of the bonds outstanding, which in many cases, would not cover the costs involved.
“We must ensure that we, as a local authority, are not out of pocket on this. Is there, I wonder, any provision for us to go in to these estates and carry out emergency works because as it is, we have people living on building sites, with fencing and hoardings torn down, and one unfinished estate has no bond – I thought this was essential to secure planning permission”.
