SO-CALLED "GHOST" or unfinished housing estates around the State could be used for social housing as part of a €170 million stimulus package which could also provide up to 1,500 jobs, according to the Irish Council for Social Housing.
Donal McManus, executive director of the council, said social housing must be part of any stimulus package. Speaking at the council's agm in Dublin yesterday, he said there were thousands of unfinished and vacant properties across the State which could be managed by social housing associations.
He said the Government must ensure up to 10,000 units of social housing be obtained from the Nama portfolio. "Investing in social housing provides a real economic and social return to the State through providing employment, utilising vacant homes and taking people off waiting lists. We can turn ghost estates into homes and neighbourhoods."
Minister of State for Housing Michael Finneran said the target of providing about 4,000 units of social housing this year through the long-term leasing programme would be met. The scheme, aimed at private property owners, sees local authorities taking out long-term leases - of up to 20 years - on vacant properties to rent them out as social housing. He said about 1,400 such properties had been leased and "a lot more applications from property owners are being processed".
He said there was no way his department would be able to maintain capital spending on social housing provision "at the levels we grown used to over recent years".
There are currently about 56,000 households on the social housing waiting list.
