'Dire' housing situation ‘imploding’ in rural Waterford villages as anti-social behaviour rises
Inefficiencies in the Choice Based Letting System is leading to a rise in antisocial behavior and locals being pushed out of their own area.
Housing in the largely rural Comeragh district of county Waterford is in a "dire" position, councillors say.
Inefficiencies in the Choice Based Letting System is leading to a rise in antisocial behavior and locals being pushed out of their own area, whilst Council owned lands, which are zoned for housing, are sitting idle.
Cllr Catherine Burke said that the overall situation is "imploding".
There is a growing concern in the area that due to the Choice Based Letting (CBL) system, local houses are not being allocated to local people.
Choice-based letting is a council system that allows people on the housing list to choose properties from a list of available homes.
Councillors say that people born and raised within the Comeragh electoral district are not being given priority for houses within their own district over people from neighbouring areas.
“Local people are not getting priority and I do believe that Choice Based Letting does not suit rural villages in the county of Waterford,” Cllr Liam Brazil said.
Cllr Declan Clune, meanwhile, said that local people leaving the area from a lack of available housing is leading to significant rural decline and that schools, businesses, clubs and societies are being impacted.
“I have no objection in principal in somebody from outside an area coming in,” he said, “but at the same time we’re obliged to keep local people in local authority houses in the area that they come from.
"I think our allocations policy is broken. I think it needs to be reviewed and priority has to be given to local people.”
Cllr John O’Leary shared the same sentiment, saying “it is imperative” that local houses go to local people.
Responding to the concerns, Helena Dennehy, Council Director of Services with responsibility for housing, said that “the allocations policy does not allow for" local people being given priority.
“The person who is allocated a property may not be the person from the local area, because the need of the person who has been allocated is greater than the local person," she said.
“I personally do not believe that the allocations policy will be looked at in 2025, but that’s not to say that we won’t start looking at it."
The issue over allocations is leading to a rise in antisocial behavior, Cllr Clune said.
“I know from speaking to some of the various authorities that are involved in dealing with anti-social behavior in some of the villages in the area, that generally it’s a lot of people from outside the area that are drug dealing and causing anti-social behavior.
“You'd always get a bit of local anti-social behavior, but the vast majority of the serious incidents over the last few years have come from people that are not originally from the area. In some cases, safety is being threatened and gardaí have been involved.”
Meanwhile, Cllr Brazil added that there are lands in Stradbally, which have been zoned for housing, that are sitting idle.
"We as a council have land and we’re ignoring it for some reason," he said.
