838 housing units over three years by council

WEXFORD County Council delivered 838 housing units over a three year period from 2018 to 2020. That’s according to figures presented by outgoing head of housing Niall McCabe at last week’s special meeting of the council to look at housing issues.

Of these 185 were new build and turnkey projects (58 in 2018, 80 in 2019 and 47 in 2020). 193 were new builds by approved housing bodies (51 in 2018, 50 in 2019 and 92 in 2020). Part V new builds accounted for 78 units (1 in 2018, 34 in 2019 and 43 in 2020), while local authority voids accounted for 23 (8 in 2018, 10 in 2019 and 5 in 2020).

A total of 131 units were provided via Wexford County Council acquisitions (92 in 2018, 32 in 2019 and 7 in 2020), while 93 were approved housing body acquisitions (37 in 2018, 26 in 2019 and 30 in 2020). Finally leasing accounted for the provision of 135 units over the three year period (40 in 2018, 42 in 2019 and 53 in 2020).

While the housing department’s figures showed 277 housing units delivered last year, Mr McCabe said that the local authority intended to improve on that total this year and had plans for 293 units for 2021, 151 of which would be new builds from approved housing bodies, and a further 304 units to be delivered in 2022 with the bulk being Wexford County Council own-builds and turn-keys.

In addition to these numbers, Mr McCabe said that a further 267 were ‘in pipeline’, while an additional 445 units were ‘under discussion’.

A few councillors, however, questioned whether the figures were a true reflection of what Wexford could hope for over the next two years. In particular, Cllr Lisa McDonald was critical, saying that she knew of some developments that were being counted among units to be delivered, but were mired in delays that were unlikely to be solved any time soon.