The average cost of rent in Mayo is now €915 per month, according to figures released this week from property website Daft.ie, and with no homes to rent in Ballina on the site, Independent Cllr Mark Duffy has called for ambitious thinking to tackle the problem.
Rent in the county was on average 20.1 per cent higher in the county in the final quarter of the year, when the sample of data was taken, compared to the same time in 2020.
The report also found that at the start of February there was just 108 homes available to rent in the whole of Connacht, a 22 per cent drop on the same period last year.
The increase in the price of rent in Mayo was almost double the increase on the national figure, with rents increasing nationally by 10.3 per cent on a period of 12 months previously, according to the report.
This week, Independent Ballina councillor Mark Duffy took to social media to outline his concerns and thoughts on what should be done to ease the issue.
Cllr Duffy stated last Saturday, February 5: "Ballina is suffering from a chronic lack of housing provision. Today, there are no properties to rent in Ballina on daft.ie or property.ie
"Of the 477 local authority homes in Ballina, just two are currently vacant - a vacancy rate of just 0.42%. I have repeatedly advocated for incentives to building owners who have vacant spaces in the first, second and third floors of town centre properties to help return families and professionals into our town which will support the local economy, including its many family-owned businesses.
"If you are a building owner with vacant space, please consider the restoration and regeneration of the property to allow Ballina to grow and meet the needs of a critical demand that exists here currently.
"What can be done: Large scale, high quality urban developments including shared work spaces with amenities such as gyms & green spaces on publicly owned land such as the Ballina Mineral Water site on Lower Pearse Street. Mayo towns and villages should be eligible for the living cities initiative which would offer incentives for property owners to renovate and regenerate vacant and derelict sites.
"We owe it to the 500 families on the social housing list in Ballina, to the young people who are trying to get ahead, the couples trying to buy their first home, the professionals who want to live and work here and have little hope currently. Working together we can get lights back in the windows above the shops in our towns and villages across Mayo."
He furthered his ideas with a post on Tuesday afternoon, saying: "To help address this, part of the solution could be more ambitious, high-quality urban developments which are in keeping with the area and help address the urgent need that currently exists.
"In Ballina Town Centre, we have publicly owned land on a brown field site that has sat derelict and vacant for almost 20 years. The site was bought to facilitate a Tesco development that never proceeded. If we take a new look at this site, could we create an ambitious development which allows for the creation of a high quality living complex with a combination of social, affordable and private apartments?
"A development that would include amenities such as gym space, roof top courtyards, public viewing points, a cafe, remote working spaces along with a new retail space to facilitate Tesco’s development including underground or multi storey parking.
"The site includes space for the potential of a town centre park which adjoins the back of the Humber Street Houses which can act as a biodiversity corridor, running from Market Square to Lower Pearse Street, improving the fabric and quality of the town centre living experience.
"The site also sits on a mineral water well, that once supplied a whole industry in the Ballina Mineral Water company. This water well could once more be returned to use to supply fresh and clean drinking water to every housing and apartment unit in such a development while returning free drinking water sourced from the heart of our town centre.
"If we join up the thinking on what we need for our towns we have the opportunity to create and deliver new high-quality developments which would help address the current demands and help us retain young people in the area while growing and progressing as a town."
