'I think there is this perception that there are Leitrim council houses sitting idle; it's not the case'

There are no Leitrim County Council properties that are vacant, was the message at a meeting in Ballinamore, where director of services, Justin Fannon spoke. 

Cllr Gary Prior noted that there were around a dozen local authority houses in Aughnasheelin, and stated "for the first time, I've seen that it's full and for a number of years, there would always be a couple of vacancies; people mightn't like to be outside the town but people are taking them now."

Mr Fannon said: "I think there is this perception that there are council houses sitting idle; it's not the case."

Head of housing at Leitrim County Council, Mary Quinn told members during a housing presentation in Ballinamore that waiting list figures currently stand at 302 and including HAP and those in council properties, this figure went up to 578. For the Ballinamore area, it's 166 with most located in Drumshanbo. 

Ms Quinn explained: "We are generally in the space of 270 to 300 on the list. We have 45 allocations that will take place in early 2026 so that will bring the number right back down. Then we also have a number of applications on hand being processed and to be added to the list."

Cllr Gary Prior asked how long an individual is typically on the waiting list before being housed with Mr Fannon saying that he undertook research on this and that "50 per cent were less than three years on it before an allocation. That is a couple of years ago now."

On the topic of Choice Based Letting (CBL) - a method that can be used for the allocation of Social Housing which is designed to offer more choice and involvement for applicant households in selecting a new home - Cllr Prior asked if there was a high refusal rate and was told by Ms Quinn that it was low. "Since we've introduced CBL, our refusal rate is very low."

On target

Targets set under the Housing for All plan between the 2022 to 2025 period, were reached and exceeded by Leitrim County Council. Ms Quinn said: "We were expected to deliver 139 new units and our expected delivery is 144 units."

59 per cent are either one or two bed units and 40 per cent are three or four bed. 

In Ballinamore, the expected units delivered will be 57 units throughout the area. 

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Cllr Brendan Barry welcomed a pilot scheme in Carrick-on-Shannon that allows individuals to 'downsize'. "When houses are so scarce and where you have a person in a bigger house than they need, I think it's very good that there is a scheme there to allow them to offer up their house and be housed. I think we could have other policies to make it easier for people and give them more certainty to give up the council-owned house where they are living to move into a smaller house, that should be done where possible because we have a limited amount of houses."

Cllr Prior noted that seven units in Newtowngore are coming on stream in 2026. "They are family homes and that's very welcome. Do we have many families on the list at the moment?"

Mr Fannon noted that the seven families homes "will help secure the school there."

Cllr Ita Reynolds-Flynn asked if an individual " who did have a three-bed house and wanted to move to Carrick-on-Shannon, should they write in and say that?"

Ms Quinn responded that they could apply for a transfer. "People's circumstances change; once we see how we get on with the pilot, it's probably something we can give a broader consideration to."

Cllr Enda McGloin noted that all "new houses that come online from Leitrim County Council are highly rated in terms of energy and it makes it cheaper and easier to heat their homes. It's encouraging to see the council go down that road because it means that their lives will be so much easier, especially for older people."

Cllr Gary Prior agreed saying that he spoke to an individual whose energy bill cost less than their fuel allowance. 

Ms Quinn also noted that six acquisitions were secured.