Galway city and county council have been unable to confirm that they are confident of meeting their social housing targets this year, despite both local authorities missing them last year.
At present, there is a target to deliver 246 new social homes throughout the city and 393 throughout the county this year.
Construction work in the city was being undertaken across six sites to build 119 units in the final quarter of last year, according to a report from the Department of Housing released last week.
However, the 84-unit ‘Fána an tSrutháin’ development in Ballyburke, Knocknacarra – which is the largest of these six sites – is not expected to be completed until late 2027.
Apart from this, just 35 other units were being built in the city during this time and it is still unclear when all of these sites will be completed.
Last year, Galway city delivered just 133 new social housing units despite having a target of 241.
However, out of these 133 social houses, only five of them were directly developed by the city council itself.
As previously reported in the Advertiser, the 84-unit development in Ballyburke is currently the only social housing scheme directly being developed by the council.
Due to its completion not being expected until late 2027, it is unclear if Galway City Council are going to complete any direct builds this year.
Across Galway county, construction work was being undertaken across fifteen sites to build 208 social housing units.
Again, it is unclear when all of these developments are expected to be completed.
In the county, 101 of these units were being directly developed and an additional 20 were vacant houses being refurbished by the council.
Last year in total, 209 new houses were delivered across Galway county despite a target of 385.
Another method used by councils to deliver new social housing is “turnkey” acquisition.
This refers to when a council either buys a completed new unit from a developer or agrees to fund a developer who might have planning permission to build the housing, and the council acquires them when finished.
In Galway city, six social housing units of this type were under construction and across the county, this number was 79.
Apart from the council itself, social housing can also be developed by independent, not-for-profit organisations known as Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs ).
Under the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF ) scheme, AHBs can claim 30% of their finance directly from the council, and the council can then recoup this loan from the government.
Like local councils, AHBs can also deliver new units through “turnkey” acquisitions.
In Galway city, 23 houses were being built for the purpose of turnkey acquisitions by AHBs in the final quarter of last year and across Galway county, this number was four.
AHBs can also avail of a separate funding stream, known as the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS ), to acquire or construct housing for people with specific priority needs, such as the elderly, homeless, or those with disabilities.
In the city, AHBs were directly building six units through the CAS scheme and four units throughout the county.
Figures released this week also documented a slight decline in homelessness across Galway in the past year. There was 257 homeless people recorded across Galway city and county at the end of March this year, compared to 265 during the same period last year.
There are currently 4,204 households on the Galway City Council Housing Waiting List, including households accommodated though the HAP scheme.
Both councils in Galway were approached for comment and asked if they were confident they could meet their social housing targets this year following the release of information included in this report.
No response was received at the time of publication.
