Clare County Council has rejected an offer from NAMA to use one hundred and fifty seven properties for social housing.
The Irish Times reports that local authorities rejected more than 1,000 homes offered by the National Asset Management Agency for social housing because of a lack of demand for housing in their areas.
A total of two hundred and thirty four properties were offered to Clare County Council with the local authority accepting seventy seven of these. More than ninety of the houses recommended to the Council were declined due to sustainable community reasons.
Sean Lenihan who works in the Housing Section of Clare County Council told The Clare Herald that they were “committed to sourcing suitable properties for social housing need through a range of measures”.
Lenihan added “While the rejection figure mentioned appears high, it should be noted that it is a cumulative figure and covers the four-year period from 2013 to 2016. In adherence to the Public Spending Code, Clare County Council has a strict validation process to follow and the reasons for rejecting a property are varied and many. A number of the properties rejected were holiday home type developments or units located in areas without a social housing need. Others were rejected for structural reasons.
“Clare County Council also works closely with the Approved Housing Bodies and some of the properties rejected would be done in favour of the AHB rather than competing against them on suitable properties once made aware of their interest. The Council then has nominating rights to these properties and can allocate them to people from its Housing List and this is a very positive outcome. Any offer of residential accommodation that Clare County Council or Approved Housing Bodies can use has been accepted and is either currently in use or will be delivered in the coming year.”