The Mayor of Ennis fears an aspect of Clare County Council’s housing policy is a slippery slope to Celtic Tiger-era deregulation.
It follows a presentation from the local authority’s senior executive officer responsible for housing delivery this week.
This week’s meeting of the council’s Social Development Strategic Policy Committee heard a presentation from Senior Executive Officer for Housing Activation and Delivery Sinéad O’Donoghue.
The presentation focused on a recent housing summit which brought over 70 local stakeholders together including developers, financial institutions, elected members, agents, utility providers and approved housing bodies.
At the meeting, constraints within the housing sector were discussed, including infrastructure, planning, finance and zoning.
The senior executive officer spoke of the financial challenges faced by developers and the need to support the private sector to ensure delivering housing remains viable for them.
Mayor of Ennis, Clarecastle Sinn Féin Councillor Tommy Guilfoyle, says maintaining standards when building homes in crucial.
Councillor Guilfoyle has also raised concerns around what he claims is a policy shift away from social and affordable to private housing.
Sinéad O’Donoghue says “all tenures” have to be considered.
Listen to the full interview here
*Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
