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Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Ghost estates
A new analysis of vacant housing across the country has identified over 600 ghost estates nationally.
These estates were built after 2005 and now more than 50 percent of the units are either vacant or under-construction.
The analysis by researchers at the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis revealed that the phenomenon of ghost estates was endemic to every county in Ireland but that counties Leitrim, Longford and Roscommon were among the worst affected.
For the people of County Roscommon the research only confirmed what local people already knew. Up and down the county and beyond there are unfinished estates and estates with few houses or apartments occupied.
According to the analysis counties Leitrim (21 estates), Longford (19 estates) and Roscommon (35 estates) had a particularly high ratio of ghost estates per head of population, suggesting a significant oversupply in the market.
The report found that the vacancy rate in County Roscommon was close to 22 per cent in 2006 and that since then a further 4,373 new properties had been built through the county.
Now we are warned that with a potential oversupply of 3,850 units throughout the county, it may take some time for housing stock in rural areas to move.
The question now is whether the houses built in rural areas will be fit for habitation when and if the market returns. The report claims that unless a strategy is put in place to maintain them, they will be left to the elements and quickly deteriorate.
The reality in County Roscommon is that hundreds of homes were built simply to avail of the Section 23 tax incentive.
Minister for Housing, local TD Michael Finneran must, as a matter of urgency, with his colleagues put in place an action plan to deal with ghost estates.
For people living in some of these estates, without street lights and footpaths, the nightmare continues. They deserve help.
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