Calls to improve conditions of several ‘rotten houses’

“It’s appalling that we leave people living beside that.”

Calls have been made to improve the conditions of several “rotting houses” across South Dublin and make them available for those on waiting lists for years.

Derelict houses can be seen in local areas such as Swiftbrook and Rossfield in Tallaght as well as in Cherry Orchard.

Those on waiting lists for housing in South Dublin are waiting around 12 years on average for a home, with allocations for a three-bed home both North and South of the Naas Road taking 11.6 to 12.3 years on average to come through.

A four-bed allocation North of the Naas Road in the South Dublin County remit takes on average 18 years to be provided.

Dublin South-West TD Seán Crowe said that far too many people are waiting for a home while the likes of those in Swiftbrook and Rossfield lie vacant.

Deputy Crowe said: “It’s impacting negatively on the people, their quality of life in relation to seeing an eye sore every day, but it’s also the other problem of litter and dumping that comes with them…

“…There’s no way that houses in the crisis that we’re in at the moment should be lying that idle for 12 months, 18 months, two years or whatever else.”

A video shared by the Dublin South-West TD on social media shows rubbish piled up outside of a fenced-up and boarded-off house in Rossfield.

Crowe stated that he would be onto South Dublin County Council about issues in the constituency and also said that there is a responsibility on the state to fund the process of turning houses around as well.

He added that the state of such houses are “an insult” to those still on waiting lists and affected by the housing crisis the country is in the midst of.

Councillor Niamh Whelan explained that the issue is more of a national one than a local one and that she feels that SDCC has done so much to turn houses into homes for people, but that more still needs to be done.

The Tallaght Central councillor described four houses in St Maelruan’s Park near Saint Dominic’s Shopping Centre that have lay in disrepair for years.

“The last update I got was early last year and they were working on them, and they were due to go out on sale to first-time buyers, but yet they’re still sitting there.

“I’ve had people from the area onto me wanting to know what’s going on, that there’s no activity in them – all the fencing has fallen down outside it.

“So, you’ve just things like that. There’s four great houses there that people, for years, are screaming out to get into and they’re sitting there…

“It’s really, really frustrating and infuriating when you have no home, you’re in overcrowding, or you’re in your ma’s box room or something, and you’re looking at those houses sitting there probably 15 years.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme