Housing and Building

The Housing section of Sligo County Council provides a number of very important services, covering every aspect of social housing:

• Assisting people who are in need of housing and who cannot afford it from their own resources.
• Provision and management of traveller accommodation.
• Liaison with approved Voluntary Housing Organisations and other agencies in the provision of accommodation.
• Encouragement of home ownership through the Shared Ownership Scheme, Tenant Purchase Scheme, Affordable Housing Scheme and various loan options.

Housing Construction

The Housing Capital Allocation from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government for 2004 was €8,625,000, which was made up as follows: 

• Local Authority Housing Programme €8,500,000
• Residential Caravans & Group Housing for Travellers €125,000

In 2004, Sligo County Council received approval from the Department for a Social and Affordable Housing Action Plan covering the period 2004-2008. It is proposed to construct or acquire 360 houses during this Programme.

The Council has a policy of purchasing houses on the open market where the houses represent value for money and where a demand exists. In the current economic climate, it is not possible to source many houses on the open market which fall within the Department’s approved unit cost budget. However, 15 houses were purchased on the open market in 2004. In addition, work commenced on 8 rural houses during the year.

The following sets out in summary, progress on the larger housing schemes:

Housing Maintenance

Approximately 66% of our maintenance budget of €440,000 was used for planned maintenance and the remaining 34% was used for emergency repairs. Planned maintenance involved replacing defective windows and doors and also replacing defective ranges. 

The Council also employed a Social Economy Co-Op to carry out environmental works (grass cutting, litter collection, flower bed construction) in various local authority estates.

A grant of €200,000 was received during 2004 from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government towards the installation of central heating in County Council dwellings. The Council supplemented this grant with approximately €45,000 from the maintenance budget. Work is due to commence on the installation of central heating and insulation of approximately 35 dwellings early in 2005. 

Rents

Rents payable on Local Authority dwellings are assessed under a Differential Rents Scheme based on income of the household. The rent scheme was reviewed in 2004. During the year, rents were reviewed to bring them into line with increases in disposal income and to meet the ever-increasing demand for maintenance and estate management. 

Housing Loans

People who wish to purchase or build a house, but cannot get a loan from a building society, bank, etc. may be eligible for a loan from a local authority. The maximum house purchase loan is €165,000 and, in 2004, Sligo County Council allocated €152,785.64 in house purchase, construction and reconstruction loans.

Tenant Purchase

Tenants of a local authority house for a period of at least one year may apply to purchase their rented house outright or by means of Shared Ownership under the Tenant Purchase Scheme. The purchase price will be the market value of the house in its existing state of repair and condition, less various discounts.

In 2004, 16 houses were sold under the Tenant Purchase Scheme and one of these was sold by way of Shared Ownership. 4 of these were approved for Council loans and the remaining 11 received loans from other financial institutions.

Shared Ownership Scheme

This scheme offers home ownership in a number of steps to those who cannot afford full ownership in the traditional way. Initially, ownership of the house is shared between the shared owner and the Local Authority. The shared owner has the option at a later date to purchase the Council’s share outright when their circumstances permit.

In 2004, Sligo County Council received an allocation of €1,900,000 to purchase/construct houses under the Shared Ownership Scheme. 19 provisional approvals were issued to applicants and 15 final approvals were granted under this scheme to the end of the year.

Improvement Works in Lieu of Re-Housing

This Scheme allows Sligo County Council to improve or extend privately owned houses occupied or intended to be occupied by an approved applicant for housing as an alternative to the provision of Local Authority housing.

During 2004, 8 houses were upgraded at an average cost per house of €39,511.38 and 15 applications were approved under the Scheme.

Affordable Housing

There was no activity to report on Affordable Housing in the early part of 2004. However, the construction of a scheme of 10 4-bedroom houses at Grange began in November 2004.  This is the first scheme of its kind in North Sligo and it is expected that interest will be very high when the scheme is completed. The planned project at Strandhill (8 houses) is at an advanced stage with construction due to commence in 2005. 

Estate Management

The Estate Management Officer continued to engage with resident groups throughout the county during 2004. Some 34 meetings were held during the year with various groups discussing a wide variety of housing issues. More emphasis this year was placed on anti-social behaviour and tenant participation in estate management. Draft policies on these issues have been prepared for consideration by the Strategic Policy Committee with responsibility for housing.

Maintenance work was carried out during 2004 on six estates throughout the county, by the Environmental Co-operative Association under the supervision of the Estate Management Officer.

Various profiles of estates were completed, and Estate Action Plans introduced as part of the joint Council/Tenant partnership. Estate clean-ups were held in Camross Estate, Ballymote and Caltragh Estate, Sligo. Other Estates received skips for their own clean-ups in order to enhance their area.

The Estate Officer continued to consult with the health board social workers and members of the Gardaí in an effort to mediate in conflict issues.

Mandatory pre-tenancy training continued for new tenants. 

Essential Repairs Grants

The principal benefit of the Essential Repairs Grants Scheme is that it enables structural repairs to be carried out to prolong the life of a house for an elderly resident. The maximum grant available under the scheme is €9,523, with 2/3 of the cost being recouped from the Department.

In 2004, 29 approvals were issued during the year and 9 grants were paid out under this scheme, totalling €44,535.50. 

Disabled Persons Grants

The Disabled Persons Grants Scheme allows Sligo County Council to make a grant available for the provision of house adaptations to meet the needs of a household member who is disabled. Due to the ever-increasing number of applications, the grants are awarded on a priority basis, with a focus on those cases where the applicant’s disability seriously impacts on their quality of life.

In 2004, the maximum amount payable under the scheme was €20,315, with 2/3 of the cost being recouped from the Department. 96 approvals were issued during the year and 75 grants were paid out under this scheme totalling €196,911.99.

Traveller Accommodation

The process of preparing a Draft Traveller Accommodation Programme for the four year period 2005 - 2008 commenced during 2004. The draft programme was placed on public display in November 2004 and it is expected that it will be adopted by both Sligo County Council and Sligo Borough Council early in 2005.

Plans for the provision of a Transient Halting Site at Cloonamahon were progressed during 2004 with the Council passing resolutions agreeing to a variation of the Development Plan in respect of this development. It is anticipated that construction will commence on this site mid 2005.