The Minister for Housing has praised Waterford Council for their work in the Repair and Leasing Scheme which has been developed to bring vacant properties into social housing use.
The scheme is aimed at owners of vacant properties who cannot afford the repairs needed to bring their property up to the standard for renting.
A pilot was launched in Waterford and Carlow in October 2016 and the scheme was then extended to all local authorities.
Minister Eoghan Murphy visited one of the schemes in Barrack Street in Waterford City this morning. "This is a fantastic scheme and Waterford have been successful in using the Repair & Lease Scheme." He added that "in other parts of the country it hasn't been successful so it's great to see Waterford actually leading the way in using this scheme to get new homes opened up for families who need these homes."
Minister Murphy said that they will be talking about a new version of the scheme at a housing summit in Dublin on Monday so "that other parts of the country can be as successful as Waterford in getting old houses, or houses that weren't on the market, back into use for social housing.
The Minister also met with Waterford Council CEO Michael Walsh and described it as very constructive. "We talked through the ambition that's here for Waterford in terms of building more social housing but also getting more homes built generally for the public." He says that a lot still needs to happen "Rebuilding Ireland is the government's plan, it's a five year plan, we're 18 months into that plan. What we know from our figures from 2017 is that the plan is working, we're moving in the right direction."
