Thirty vacant council houses in Laois
There are currently 30 vacant houses in Laois that are owned by Laois County Council.
Of the 30, five that had been occupied by council tenants are in a state of "gross disrepair".
They will cost a lot of public money and a longer time to bring back up to standard to be rented out to tenants.
Seven vacant houses were recently bought up and also need repairs.
The council has been approved Goverment money of €605,000 to spend to carry out repair works in 55 vacant houses this year.
The update was given at the September council meeting.
"There are currently 23 vacant units from our existing stock and a further seven units that the council acquired. Works are either ongoing on most of these properties or specifications are being prepared for works to be carried out.
"However there are five houses amongst the 23 that are in a state of gross disrepair and will require significant levels of expenditure before they are deemed fit for reletting," the manager's report stated.
The local authority has over 1,200 council homes. Many more are owned by housing bodies for use by council tenants. This year, it expects to add another 223 new social homes across the county. There are almost 1,800 people on the waiting list for a council home, set to increase to about 2,300 with the upcoming widening of the qualifying income threshold.