A Shannon Councillor is expressing his confusion at an admission from Clare County Council it needed clarity on the process to apply for affordable housing funding.
Independent Councillor Gerry Flynn has called for an urgent application be made by the Housing Department of the local authority to access affordable housing funding in the town.
Clare County Council says it’s reliant on the Department for ‘advice and direction’ on completing the relevant application.
Councillor Flynn, who’s also the Chair of the Council’s Housing Committee, says it’s strange that a meeting has only been organised now to learn how to apply.
Listen to the full interview here:
Statement from Clare County Council
Clare County Council initiated engagement with the Dept. of Housing Local Government & Heritage (DHLGH) in July of this year regarding the potential to have Ennis and Shannon approved for eligibility to the Affordable Purchase Scheme.
The decision to extend access to the Affordable Housing Fund for these two urban centres will have to be supported by a detailed and robust evidence based submission which will demonstrate an affordability constraint in the local market.
While there is a toolkit and model for conducting this analysis on a countywide basis there is no specific template for the sub county level and the Council are reliant on advice and direction from the Dept of Housing for the purpose of compiling this submission.
We have sought a meeting with the DHLGH and we look forward to scheduling of this meeting where we are hopeful we will be advised of the application criteria / process for Clare County Council.
Based on outcome of this meeting and clarification of the data and process required the Housing Department will apply all necessary resources to the compilation of a submission seeking access to the Affordable Housing fund for delivery of affordable schemes on suitable sites to be identified in both towns.
