Senator Jimmy Harte has warmly welcome NAMA’s plans to fast-track the acquisition of social housing and that an additional 2,000 social houses will be made available by the end of next year.
The Letterkenny politician said there is €100 million of property alone under NAMA in Donegal and said he hopes there would be some social dividend out of the situation.
“As a director of the North West Simon I am heartened to see that the minister is engaging directly with NAMA and as a result getting people off the housing list.
“Only last month Minister O Sullivan announced over €2.2 million in funding for Donegal social housing projects in Letterkenny and Moville with the emphasis on people with disabilities and the elderly.
“This is a great result for Housing Minister Jan O’Sullivan and I would like to congratulate her for the great work she has done in this regard and I very much welcome the support voiced the Irish Council for Social Housing for today’s development,” he said.
He added, however, that more needs to be done and he doesn’t believe there are many properties around the country that could be made available for use by families under social housing schemes.
“I would also urge Nama and the various housing authorities to look at how a rent-to-buy provision could be included in the mix of solutions that are being brought forward to address housing shortages.
“To my mind it is a far better and realistic situation whereby prospective first time buyers could rent a home with an option to buy the property after a couple of years than having houses vacant along with them accruing security, maintenance and other costs,” he said.