Fears that city natives may miss out on affordable homes – because rents forced them out to county
Galway citizens – who live in the county because they’ve been ‘priced-out’ of the city housing market – may be ineligible to apply for new affordable purchase schemes offered by Galway City Council.
The ‘fundamentally unfair’ scenario was flagged by a member of the local authority’s Housing Strategic Policy Committee (SPC), and former city councillor, Mark Lohan.
He has called for ‘fairness’ in the scheme’s eligibility to allow city people living in the county to apply to buy affordable homes in the city they were born and reared but no longer can afford to live.
A City Council affordable purchase scheme, devolved from central Government, is expected to be unveiled in the first quarter of 2022.
According to Mr Lohan, one of the first affordable homes available for purchase is expected to be the 85-unit plan in Merlin Woods, which is currently going through planning and is not expected to be ready for occupancy until 2025.
Some of the criteria for eligibility to apply to buy an affordable home in the scheme includes an upward income limit of €65,000 for an individual, it must be for first-time buyers and for new builds only.
There is also a requirement for residency in the city, although the length of residency is not yet specified.
And Mr Lohan fears that this could exclude long-time city residents who can’t afford to rent here, and who are living in the county, being excluded from applying for the scheme.
“It seems fundamentally unfair that a person who was born in Galway City, was raised here, went to school, and still has their parents’ family home here, but has had to rent outside of town due to cost, would be prevented from applying for an affordable home,” he said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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