A young Donegal County Councillor has told of her frustrations at the lack of available, let alone affordable housing in the county.
Sinn Féin Councillor Dakota Nic Mheanman spoke on the issue at this month’s meeting of the Lifford-Stranorlar Municipal District.
Councillor Nic Mheanman, a 25-year-old mother-of-one who lives in a mobile home in Ballybofey, is among those engaged in a vain search for accommodation.
Across her MD, availability of housing is scant and costs have rocketed.
Huddled into a winter coat, Nic Mheanman told the meeting, held remotely via Teams, that she is worried about the impact of the plummeting temperatures over the winter months.
“I woke up here this morning and it would absolutely kill you with how cold it is,” Councillor Nic Mheanman said.
“I am actively looking for a house, but a four-bed house that came up recently is €950 a month. These prices look like they are going to stay.
“Of course, there are people leaving rental accommodation but unless we tackle the high rents it won’t make a difference.”
She has called for legislation to stop price gouging and to prevent landlords from exploiting the Accommodation Recognition Payment scheme, which provides €800 for those giving temporary accommodation to Ukrainian refugees.
She said: “You have the situation where people renting to Ukrainian families get €800 tax free for a month. There is an incentive to rent to Ukrainians and get €800 tax free because that €800 tax free is the equivalent of €1100 or €1200 while paying tax.
“This government policy is actually displacing Irish people. There is a total incentive to not rent to Irish people and it’s actually out of hand. You now have this situation where people are leaving private rental houses and it’s no good to us who are waiting.”
Figures provided by the latest Daft.ie report show that the average rent across Donegal is 4.5% higher than the same time last year with the average rent now standing at €1,170. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is now €755 with a two-bedroom house averaging at €885.
As of the end of October, the Lifford-Stranorlar MD is providing social housing support in the form of Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to 288 households, which is around 17% of Donegal’s active tenancies on the scheme
The Lifford-Stranorlar MD has a total housing stock of 984 but there is a waiting list for social housing with over 400 people, with 166 of those not in receipt of the HAP scheme.
Councillor Nic Mheanman said: “It’s just ridiculous trying to get a house at the minute. There are no houses available and any that do become available, the price of renting just goes sky high. We need a rent freeze and we need to come down hard on landlords charging such high rents.”
At the same meeting, Fianna Fáil Councillor Patrick McGowan said the price of rental property was “going through the roof”.
He said: “There is very little in terms of social conscience when it comes to the private market, It’s up to us in the Council to build enough houses.
The Area Manager for Housing & Corporate Services, Colin McNulty, said that new developments at Trusk Road in Ballybofey and Gallows Lane in Lifford are nearing completion and will be ready for walk-in by Christmas. The units are mostly allocated and will be ready for occupancy soon.
He said the Council was “happy to consider any options in any area” when it was claimed that the local authority is “forgetting” about Gaeltacht areas when it comes to house building.
“There is actually very little coming up for sale,” he said. “It is an unbelievably tight market. We are more than happy to consider acquisitions.”