27% reduction in Mayo's social housing waiting lists in five years

THE social housing waiting list in Mayo has reduced by 27% over the last five years.

The figures are published in the 2021 Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA) today which show a substantial reduction of 27% in the Mayo social housing waiting list since the first annual assessment was conducted in 2016.

The SSHA shows 907 households in Mayo were assessed as being qualified for, and in need of, social housing support as of November 17, 2021. This figure is down 83 (8.3%) from 990 households recorded on November 2, 2020.

This figure also represents a total decrease of 335 (27%) households since 2016.

Nationally, 59,247 households were assessed as being qualified for social housing support as of November 2021, down 2,633 (4.3%) from 61,880 households in November 2020. This is a reduction of 32,353 (35.3%) since 2016.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, also published the social housing statistics for Quarter 4 2021. Nationally, a total of 4,010 social homes were delivered in Quarter 4, including 2,053 new build social homes, 810 acquisitions and 1,147 homes delivered through leasing programmes.

Overall in 2021, a total of 9,183 new social homes were delivered, an increase of 17% on 2020 figures. This total includes 5,202 new build homes (an increase of 2.6% on 2020), 1,270 acquisitions and 2,711 homes delivered through leasing programmes.

Commenting, Minister O’Brien said: “These results are evidence that government investment in social housing supports is working for Mayo. Nationally, over 23,300 households had their housing needs met in 2021 - this is despite the very significant impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on delivery.

“We must not, and will not, lose sight of the fact that there are still just over 900 households in Mayo who are relying on us for the provision of housing support.

“Housing for All, which was launched six months ago, sets us on a pathway to delivering 90,000 new social homes between now and the end of 2030. This year we will be investing more than €4bn to deliver 11,820 new social homes in 2022, including 9,000 new build social homes.”