Almost 60 unsold affordable homes in Co Laois are now being leased to people on housing waiting lists, under the new social housing leasing initiative announced by the Government last year.
The scheme allows local authorities to house people on waiting lists in unsold affordable homes by leasing them to housing associations for five years.
If the housing market has recovered at the end of the lease period, the properties can be put on the market as affordable housing and tenants will be re-housed by the local authority.
But if the housing market has not recovered at the end of the lease period, the lease can be extended for another five years.
The Clúid Housing Association has leased 58 such houses from Laois County Council, in eight estates in Borris-in-Ossory, Mountrath, Portarlington and Portlaoise.
Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Michael Finneran, said Laois county council was one of the first local authorities to embrace the new scheme.
Speaking in Portlaoise at a conference on the issue today, he said the constrained state of public finances meant that "we need to radically adapt the way we go about meeting housing need".
Neil McKeever of the Clúid Housing Association said the new organisation was providing a full management and maintenance service to the tenants who moved into the 58 houses before Christmas.
Clúid is a nationwide body which provides more than 4,000 homes for people who were previously on council waiting lists.
