Speaking following his motion to the Athy area Committee on Vacant Council Homes , Cllr Mark Wall welcomed the news that Kildare County Council have increased their budget to turn around these potential homes in quicker timeframes.
In response to Cllr Walls calls , KCC confirmed that they were not happy with the turnaround times but a combination of funding , lack of staff and contractors removing themselves from the council framework has lead to delays
The Council have in response to the unacceptable delays , advertised for new contractors and are finalising this list. They are putting together new framework tender documents that will allow quicker turnaround times and have already invited pre-qualified contractors to tender for existing work . Applications have also being made to central government for additional staff and funding.
Cllr Wall added ” I’m aware of over 20 vacant properties in the Athy area that can and should become family homes urgently . In the crisis we have at the moment , allowing council homes to remain unoccupied for in some cases, periods of over 1 year is totally unacceptable. I welcome the news today on funding and the changes in the long winded documentation but I’ll be highlighting this issue at every opportunity .As I’ve said before there is no one solution to the housing crisis but the Authorities inability to turn around family homes in a reasonable time frame should not contribute to this crisis.
