16 families and 54 single people are homeless in Offaly
‘Cllr Seán O'Brien commented that the housing situation has improved significantly in the county during the last few years’
16 FAMILIES and 54 single people are homeless in Offaly, the October meeting of Offaly County Council was told by the local authority's housing section.
A member of the housing team updated the Councillors on the Private Emergency Accommodation (PEA) situation.
She said part of the work of the Council's homeless action team is to "create an exit strategy with the homeless person."
She said Good Shepherd provides housing options and the Council also works with the Peter McVerry Trust, Midlands Simon and Sophia Housing (which runs the Cill Bhríde facility in Tullamore). “Good Shepherd provides resettlement support services to clients in PEA and transitioning to tenancies. Sophia Housing Association provides supported temporary accommodation, the Peter McVerry Trust continues to support individuals allocated to Housing First units; and Midlands Simon provides Resettlement Services to clients in supported tenancies.”
Turning to the issue of Domestic Violence Support she said there is one safe house in each Municipal District. She also pointed out that Stage 1 approval for a ten unit domestic violence refuge facility in Tullamore has been granted. “A design team and project manager have been appointed and the design is now progressing.”
Turning to the Council's Disability Strategy she said that so far in 2026, 30% of allocated tenancies have been to individuals with a disability or additional support needs, “reflecting this Council's commitment to inclusive housing."
In the Traveller Accommodation Programme 2025 to 2029, 4 Group Housing Scheme dwellings have been assigned to travellers on Croghan Road Birr; 26 standard houses have been allocated to traveller families; four Halting Site Bays have been allocated in Kilcruttin Tullamore (3) and Millbrook Park, Birr (1); 4 mobile homes and associated bay upgrades have been delivered in Kilcruttin Halting Site under the Caravan Loan Scheme. A Traveller Tenancy Sustainment Officer is working on the Traveller Accommodation Programme.
John Cunningham of the Housing team told the meeting that there has been a reduction in the waiting times for Housing Aid Grants.
He also said the Council's social housing waiting list has reduced considerably. “The pre 2026 waiting list reduced from 835 (Feb 2025) to 233 (Oct 2026). The total waiting list is now 429 including the 2026 applications.”
Mr Cunningham said 192 Housing Aid Grant Applications were advanced in 2026, valued at €2,046,514. He added that the Disabled Persons Grants (Social Housing) in 2026 came to €833,677. This work has included six extensions and 21 adaptions.
He also pointed out that the Local Authority's rent review of approximately 2,250 tenant rent accounts will commence in January 2027 and the revised rents will come into effect in July 2027. The Council has carried out a total of 1,723 private rental inspections to date in 2026.
The Council's housing stock is now 2,274, which is the highest number of dwellings the Council has ever owned. Among these, ten social houses were built in Beechwood Court Daingean and 77 Approved Housing Body units were delivered in Kingswood, Tullamore.
Under the Housing for All scheme, 2022 to 2026 the Council has built 552 new homes, exceeding its target by 89 homes. Of these 129 were turnkey and 98 were Part V. ( A turnkey development is a project where a local authority or Approved Housing Body (AHB) makes an agreement to purchase completed or nearly completed housing units from a private developer at a pre-agreed price. Part V refers to Part V of the Planning and Development Acts (2000 to 2024), which implements a legal requirement for private developers to allocate a portion of residential developments for social and affordable housing).
The home building scheme that has been rolled out across the local authorities and is replacing Housing for All is called “Delivering Homes Building Communities” and will run until 2030. €38,000 per housing unit has been assigned to Offaly County Council for the Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme.
Under the Housing for All scheme Local authorities were given core responsibility to scale up social housing delivery, aiming for over 10,000 social homes yearly through state-funded new builds rather than relying solely on the private rental market or leasing. The plan actively pushed councils to phase out long-term private leasing and move toward permanent, state-owned stock.
Cllr Noel Cribbin warmly welcomed the housing team's housing update. “This was a very positive presentation,” he commented. “The key message here is that Offaly County Council is delivering big time when it comes to delivering housing. It is also great to see there has been huge progress in our housing grants schemes. It's also great to see the housing waiting list has come down so much. The number of applicants on the waiting list used to be so high it was embarrassing.”
Cllr Seán Maher welcomed the proposed ten unit domestic violence refuge facility in Tullamore. “This is a serious issue and a matter of considerable concern and it's good to see that these ten units are being planned.”
Cllr Maher said people sometimes ask him how they can get on the Council's social housing waiting list. “I tell them they have to be earning less than €30,000 before they are eligible for the list. I think €30,000 is too low. I know of one person who is 64 years of age and has decided to stop working full time and shift to working part time, so his income can go below €30,000. I also know of quite a few adults who are still living with their parents in their parents' homes. They don't want to be but they have no choice because of their financial situations. Each year we also see the price of houses going up several per cent. At the same time wages are not matching the rate of inflation. It feels like a race to the bottom.”
Cllr Peter Ormond pointed out that there is a very worrying lack of new social housing in rural areas in Offaly. “We have to be doing more to keep our rural areas alive,” he remarked. “In many places there's been no social housing building activity, or very little, for a long time. We can't rely on the private sector to solve this issue. We have to get the local authority more involved.” Cllr Audrey Hennessy Kennedy said she fully agreed with Cllr Ormond.
Cllr Seán O'Brien commented that the housing situation has improved significantly in the county during the last few years, “but I think we need to build quite a few more Council dwellings.”
Cllr Neil Feighery asked what is the level of demand for affordable housing, ie middle-income earners who earn too much for social housing but cannot afford open-market prices.
Cllr John Leahy said the storm of the Housing Crisis was very challenging for local authorities “but it looks as Offaly County Council has successfully weathered that storm and is now delivering housing very successfully.”