A sitting County Councillor and an election hopeful have spoken out over controversial delays to a social housing project in Milford.
Councillor Liam Blaney and Declan Meehan both spoke to Donegal Daily in relation to a stalemate involving 17 newly built houses at Lough Fern Heights in Milford which have been earmarked for those on the housing list. However, they have been lying empty for several years.
Mr Meehan, who is also manager of Milford and District Resource Centre, plans to run as an Independent candidate in June’s local elections. He is laying the blame squarely on Donegal County Council. However, Cllr Blaney said the issue is ‘not that straightforward’ and the developer should ‘do the right thing’ and sell the houses to the council.
Declan Meehan
Mr Meehan said the developer of the Milford houses, PJD Construction, has had no direct contact with the council since June 2020. As a result, he added, the builder entered into discussions with an approved housing body, Cooperative Housing Ireland (CHI) Ltd, with a view to them purchasing the properties for social housing.
In order to raise the required finance, CHI sought funding from the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) which is administered by the Department of Housing. However, Mr Meehan claimed the application could not proceed as the council refused to support the application. As a result, the houses have been lying empty, prompting unfounded claims they were to be used for refugees or asylum seekers.
Mr Meehan said that, effectively, the council is preventing private developers from building social housing around the county.
“If the council can’t buy the houses, then no one can buy them as the council will not support Cooperative Housing Ireland’s CALF application,” he said.
He added that council representatives were to meet with CHI last week to discuss the matter. However, he believes the council is not going to budge on the issue.
“It is my understanding that the council is not going to support the housing agency’s bid to purchase the houses at Lough Fern Heights,” he said.
“The council is citing competition law, but I spoke to someone in the Department of Housing and they said that argument is not relevant in this case. They also said they are not blocking the CHI application and that it was the council who is holding it up. The council needs to be clear as to why they are holding this up. The council has questions to answer and this will become an issue in other parts of the county, too.”
Colr. Liam Blaney, Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council pictured with some of those who attended launch of Social Inclusion week at An Grianan Theatre. (NW Newspix)
However, Cllr Blaney disagreed, saying he has been directly involved in the case since ‘day-one’.
“I have been involved in this issue since day-one and it’s not as straightforward as some people are making out,” he said.
“I have spoken to both sides and it is vitally important that these 17 houses are secured for the people of Milford. I believe the developer should do the right thing and sell the homes to Donegal County Council. The council is the official social housing body for Donegal, so, I would again urge the developer to do the right thing and sell the houses to the local authority. That way, people on the housing list who rent long term have the right to buy out the homes and own them outright.”
We asked the council for a comment in relation to the matter.
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