KCC reveals plans for €62m spending spree
COUNCIL WILL BUILD, BUY AND RENT HUNDREDS OF HOMES ACROSS KERRY
KERRY County Council have revealed the full details of the ambitious three-year €62 million housing plan for the county.
On Monday management published its plan for spending the windfall allocation it received as part of the government’s €1.5 billion social housing programme.
Kerry County Council is expected to house 1,058 applicants who make up a quarter of the county’s housing list by the end of 2017.
To do this the council will build, buy, rent and renovate hundreds of homes.
Figures presented to councillors on Monday show council management plan to build 140 homes, buy around 110 houses, renovate about 240 vacant council properties (which are predicted to become available during the three years of the plan) and rent around 600 homes.
The house building projects will be concentrated in Tralee, Killarney, Killorglin and Listowel with house purchasing expected to also be focussed in these areas.
Those on the housing list in rural areas around the county will be housed in properties leased for five to ten years under the state Rental Accomodation Scheme (RAS).
Other properties will be built in conjunction with charitable housing organisations.
Management said they are aware the such a high number of purchases could artificially inflate localised property markets and they will do their best to minimise the effect.
Councillors were old that sourcing houses to buy or rent in Killarney would prove difficult and applicants will likely be housed in surrounding areas.
KCC Chief Executive Moira Murrell said the targets were “very ambitious” and that the council “will have to pull out all the stops to meet them.”
Director of Housing John Breen described the plan as “extremely ambitious” adding the council has every intention of availing of the value out there.”