Pyrite-hit families in Mayo left stranded as housing crisis reaches boiling point

FAMILIES in Westport and across Mayo, forced out of their homes due to pyrite damage, are facing a double blow - crumbling houses and a rental market that’s all but collapsed as a Sinn Féin TD calls for emergency modular housing to help impacted families.

With zero rental properties currently available in Westport, and just 18 homes listed across the entire county, residents rebuilding their homes under the defective concrete blocks scheme say they’ve been left to fend for themselves.

The €8,000 provided under the scheme for alternative accommodation and storage is proving grossly inadequate, as average rents in west Mayo soar towards €2,000 per month for a three-bedroom home, wiping out the entire allowance in just four months.

“The situation in Westport is particularly chronic,” said Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh. “These were homes sold with council approval. But when the issue of pyrite arose, everyone scattered.”

Deputy Conway-Walsh criticised the government for failing to include even a basic provision for modular housing or increased rental supports in emergency legislation due before the summer recess.

“We asked for a single line at the end of the Bill, just one line to give these families the help they need.

“We’re still waiting,” she said.

Sinn Féin have called on the scheme cap to rise by 10%.

Fianna Fáil Councillor Brendan Mulroy, who has worked directly with affected families in the Westport area, said while the community has shown great understanding, the chronic lack of housing means many are left with no options.

“People do come forward when we say it’s a pyrite family, there’s real sympathy, but there are no homes to offer,” said Councillor Mulroy.

Families are being asked to leave the only homes they’ve known, often with young children, while their properties are stripped and rebuilt from scratch.

But many are now facing the bitter reality of not being able to find a single home to rent, even if they have the funds.

Westport’s local housing crisis, long known to residents, has now reached a tipping point.

With demand far outstripping supply and tourism, second home ownership and short-term lets continuing to put pressure on the market, local families find themselves increasingly squeezed out.

Deputy Conway-Walsh also raised the alarm about a broader move across the EU to reduce regulatory oversight, citing the Draghi Report and warning that ‘light-touch or no regulation’ is precisely what led to the concrete block scandal in the first place.

“These people suffered because of diluted oversight,” she said. “And now, we are watching the same dynamic unfold all over again.

“Big business sees deregulation as an opportunity, but look what that cost us last time: billions in redress, and countless families displaced.”

Local anger is now rising over the government’s perceived failure to grasp the urgency on the ground.

“It’s in everyone’s interest to get these families back into their homes,” said Conway-Walsh. “But first, they need somewhere to go.”