Urgent need to build as 691 on housing list in Cashel Tipperary Municipal District

Cashel and Tipperary town face a serious housing crisis unless something is done urgently, with a record number of 691 people on the housing waiting list.

There are proposals for 28 houses in Knockanrawley, Tipperary town, said housing official Sean Lonergan. The plans will be submitted to the Department and be back in three or four weeks.

A ‘masterplan’ for Bansha is to be completed in two or three weeks. The plan involves 12 houses for Bansha and “once done up, we’ll send them off to the Department for approval.”

Cllr Martin Browne expressed concern about the number of housing applicants on the list for the area. The figure is now around 700. “That figure is going up the whole time,” he said. There were about 500 on the housing waiting list between the two major towns of Cashel and Tipperary, said Cllr Tom Wood. “And not a single (Council) house built in Cashel for many years. It will be a long time before we have one house built in Cashel.”

The vast majority of those in social housing are in HAPS (housing assistance payment scheme), which works with private providers and various supports.

“Because of property price increases, they (landowners) are now deciding they want to sell.” There is a fear that with houses being sold, people in HAPS will have to move on but there is nowhere for them to move to. “I see people searching all over the town, at auctioneers, with the HAPS scheme. You have to source it (the property) yourself. We are in a crisis situation because so many people are deciding the price is good to sell. Where will we put all these people,” asked Cllr Wood.

“I agree people don't know what the future holds,” said Cllr Michael Fitzgerald. “We badly need to start building houses and trying to improve it, but you cannot do miracles.”

Cllr Denis Leahy said he had a “problem with HAPS” as it doesn not give security of tenure to tenants. Some 96 extra people had come into HAPS in the area in 2018, and the figures are getting “worse and worse.” “The property market is beginning to work, particularly in Tipperary town.”

However, “it does not augur well for a system looking to provide accommodation.” Anti-social behaviour is also blighting peoples' lives. Cllr Leahy said he knew of one couple who had to listen to music blaring at 4 o'clock in the morning before getting up to work. “Who is implementing these regulations,” he asked.

Cllr Roger Kennedy said the figure of 691 is “alarming”. Just 12 months ago, that figure was around 600. “People who don't qualify - they have huge difficulties in sourcing private accommodation.”

Cllr Kennedy called for a list of villages to be supplied where the Council owned land. This land could be zoned for housing, “to get housing built in those areas.”

Cllr Martin Browne said the anti-social behaviour in some estates is “desperate” but there needs to be a “paper trail” to prove it, and it's “very hard for residents stuck in that situation.”

Mr Lonergan said the 691 is a “spike on the list” and only appeared in the last few months. Tipperary Co. Council has a record of success in offering social housing supports to applicants, and meeting its targets, said Mr Lonergan. In relation to anti-social behaviour, it was difficult to evict offenders as “we are dealing with people who are at most risk. If you evict them, they are back in as homeless.”