The amount of time it takes to re-rent houses in Kildare needs to be reduced

The amount of time readying a Kildare County Council property to be re-rented needs to be reduced.

The council accepts that the “turnaround time” is too long and is explained by a number of factors such as the scale of works that need to be undertaken and the availability of people to undertake the task.

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Nevertheless KCC official Annette Aspell defended the vacancy rate of KCC properties - which stands at 2.5%

Ms Aspell added that this amounts to 120-125 houses or apartments out of a total portfolio of some 6,000 properties.

She said that turnaround times need to improve, KCC spent €24m on housing maintenance in 2024, which was €1m more than was budgeted for.

She said a similar sum will be spent this year.

She told a KCC meeting that the more money that is allocated the more work can be done.

Ms Aspell said that while heating, plumbing and electricity are three areas to be prioritised when a house is being prepared for a new tenant, there are other areas of work that need to be addressed.

She was responding to Cllr Tracey O’Dwyer who said people are frustrated because they see council properties "lying idle for a year” and in some cases these people might have a child on a house list for six or seven years.

Five FG councillors (Tracey O’ Dwyer, Peggy O’Dwyer, Lumi Panaite Fahey and Paul Brooks) sought a meeting with KCC’s housing department to “review how the mousing maintenance and vacant properties priority lists are managed and the timeline and challenges to bringing vacant properties back to use.”

They said some council owned properties  remain vacant “in some cases for a number of years” which results in a delay in the property being allocated and the longer a property remains vacant, the greater the  risk of damage and  anti-social behaviour; but moreover it delays another family being housed.

They say it is vital that these properties are brought back into use within a reasonable time frame.