The elected members of the Ballina Municipal District were informed this week that the district has no vacant council-owned housing stock at the minute.
Head of the district for Mayo County Council, Declan Turnbull, told the members during his management update at their January meeting: "We have no vacant houses in the report. That may look strange, no offers and no refusals. But that is a good news story, all our houses have been offered and let. It's great to have a zero in that column."
Independent councillor Mark Duffy commented: "It's good to hear and I have to compliment the team here in Ballina on getting them all turned around and allocated to people. It's good news, but it's also concerning. This week we have seen reports on dereliction and vacancy, that have shown that Mayo has the highest number of derelict properties in the country and is high on the vacancy rate too. I know good work is being done here and whatever work can be done to return derelict and vacant units should be continued and it will be well received by the public."
Director of services for Mayo County Council, Tom Gilligan, added: "It is good news in relation to the report of the zero vacant stock. I want to commend all the team on this. It is no mean achievement and an excellent report, particularly in a week where we have seen reports on vacancy and dereliction and it is sad to see Mayo is top of that league. But in fairness to the Ballina Municipal District, they have shown great leadership on this and whatever secret sauce we have here, we need to share with the other districts so they can learn from what we are doing. The pressure is on now to keep it at zero for the rest of the year; it is one thing getting to the top, the hard thing is staying there."
