At a special Council meeting on housing, Councillor David Hynes raised the issue of people in their 50s and 60s who are in the housing list looking for a one bedroom property.
He says that those types of properties are hard to come by and the wait is far too long. Currently 40% of the 1424 people on the list are seeking a one bedroom property.
Eddie Taffe has said that the Council will no longer be concentrating on three bedroom properties as the demand is not there and said that over 20% of the Councils new builds would be one bedroom.
Councillor Hynes has an issue with providing one bedroom accommodation:
“The length of time people may have to wait for a house could go into years. People in their 50s and 60s need more than a one bed, they may need family to move in to help them as they age and this may stop them having to go into a nursing home. This is not taken into account that people as they get older need more and more help.”