Families in Kildare face delays in moving into new homes
Photo is for illustrative purposes only
Questions have been raised regarding delays affecting purchasers ability to move into new homes in the affordable housing development at Barracks field West, Naas, with Kildare County Council saying that legal, financial and snagging processes have contributed to the delays.
At September’s meeting of Naas Municipal District, cllr Evie Sammon brought forward a motion on the meeting agenda asking the local authority for an update on the timeline for the development.
She asked the council to outline why there is a long wait between people applying for housing and being able to move in, and what is being done to make the process quicker for future phases of the development and other affordable housing projects.
Responding to the motion through a written response, housing department official Siobhán Barry said that the first batch of houses is currently being sold, while applications for the second batch are opened and are currently being assessed, with a number of offers already issued.
The local authority said that buying an affordable home involves several steps before the sale can be completed. They said the delay between application and move-in is mainly down to legal, financial and snagging processes involved in purchasing a home.
Because the scheme included an affordable housing contribution from the council, buyers’ solicitors must submit certain paperwork before the council’s equity share can be released. Some buyers are also using the Help to Buy scheme.
The local authority said that all buyers have regular communication with the affordable housing team in the council and the Land Development Agency (LDA). It also said it has tried to speed things up in the second phase by asking applicants for more of the required documents at the application stage.
Cllr Sammon was not present at the meeting, so Fine Gael colleague Fintan Brett spoke in her place. He said families thought they would have received access to their new homes by the start of the new school year, but this did not happen. Prospective residents had been told they would receive their keys by July.
Mayor of Naas Bill Clear criticised the LDA, saying he was “quite disappointed in the whole delivery of their housing”.
He was critical of the time it takes to complete the process, adding “if this was a private developer, we would have had this delivered a long time (ago)”. He said the council would also have completed it more quickly.
