Galway City and County Councils have been allocated more than €1 million between them for the refurbishment of vacant social housing so they can be re-let.
The announcement of €40 million in funding for this programme on Tuesday is meant to return a total of 2,500 vacant council properties to residential use.
Galway City Council will receive €519,351 and the County Council, will get €530,027.
City Councillor Alan Cheevers welcomed the announcement, saying that there are many vacant units that could be put back into the council’s housing stock in Galway City East.
“This will work towards getting some of these properties back into the housing stock and housing people and families on the housing waiting list.”
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien said, “this funding will be used to target 2,500 social housing units across the country so that they can be re-let to individuals and families struggling with homelessness or on the social housing list.”
“I have asked local authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that work on refurbishing vacant homes begins straight away.”
“The funding will make extra social housing stock available quickly and will have a knock on economic benefit by generating further employment to local builders, carpenters, painters, plumbers and electricians etc,” he concluded.
The overall allocation for this scheme is €40 million, but councils are only receiving €30 million of that now, with the remainder of the fund being held for reassignment after submissions have been received.
