Council buys 40 homes in County Roscommon town

Roscommon County Council’s purchase of 40 houses in Castlerea has been described as “a huge development” to address the growing housing demand.

The council has made a multi-million euro investment in a mix of 40 houses currently under construction at Tarmon Manor in the town.

Fianna Fáil councillor Paschal Fitzmaurice described the purchase as very significant and the largest investment of its kind in the county for many years.

Cllr Fitzmaurice also welcomed the news at the recent plenary meeting of the local authority. However, he expressed his hope at the meeting that the local authority would designate a portion of these houses for both an affordable purchase scheme and a cost rental scheme.

“It’s all very fine bringing in social housing but with a very low qualifying income threshold in Roscommon of €30,750, there are a lot of working people who are simply outside the scope to qualify for these (social) houses.

“Being on low incomes, they find it very hard to purchase housing but also, we are getting to the stage where there are a lot of working people who are simply going to become homeless and are finding it very difficult to get accommodation,” he told the meeting.

In response to Cllr Fitzmaurice’s request, director of services Chris Flynn said the council was actively in conversations with the Department of Housing at the moment to see if affordable and cost rental elements could be incorporated.

“Hopefully in the coming weeks and months, we can confirm what the position on that is,” said Mr Flynn.

Speaking to the Roscommon Herald, Cllr Fitzmaurice pointed out that he has asked the council that a minimum of 10 of these houses in Tarmon Manor would be allocated for affordable housing and a minimum of 10 for cost-rental.

The Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme assists people on moderate incomes to buy new homes at reduced prices.

The Cost Rental scheme helps middle-income households who struggle to afford private rents but do not qualify for social housing. It provides long term, secure accommodation at rents set to cover only the cost of building, managing, and maintaining the homes, typically at least 25% below market rates.