A building boom has gripped West Cork. Construction of holiday homes and private housing has been the order of the day. Jobs have been created and the economy fuelled, and that has been positive. But as a result land and house prices have risen outside of the reach of many people, particularly the young, the elderly, the vulnerable and the unemployed, causing a crisis in affordability of housing.

Why do we think there is a crisis? A recent report produced by Cork County Council shows that 34% of people in the County are "locked out of the housing market" – unable to afford to buy their own homes on the open market. Given rising prices, this figure will rise to 37% by 2006.

In 1999 there were 4,450 households on the Cork City and County housing lists. As this figure does not include people who had applied for the housing list but not been assessed, Council sources estimated the total need "may be double this figure" (around 9,000 households).

To house 7,500 households over 6 years would take the building of 1,250 new social homes every year. Cork City and County Councils are only proposing to build 930 social homes every year. In addition to this the County’s population is growing at a rate of around 3,800 new households every year, and we are told that around 34% of these can’t afford to buy their own homes. It follows that an additional 1,300 households are likely to join the housing list every year, so in fact an additional 1,600 new social homes are needed in the City and County every year.

The Council needs the support of the voluntary housing sector in order to begin to meet this deficit, and at the moment, there is little voluntary sector housing activity in West Cork. Carbery Housing Association has been set up by a group of concerned local residents in West Cork who believe that dynamic local initiatives are needed as well. Also, they should be initiatives that address the needs of groups that are currently excluded from housing. This is illustrated by the Cork County Council Housing List for West Cork in 1998:

For this reason, a group of concerned residents have registered a non-profit company, secured charitable status and approved voluntary housing body status with the Department of Environment and Local Government. We have also set up a housing list for our two initial housing projects (Baltimore and Bantry) and so far we have had over 47 applications for housing. We are also looking for potential projects in other areas.

CHA intends to make use of the good will and participation of local people and organisations in order to maximise resources available to develop community-based social housing that is rooted in the local community.

We intend to develop homes that are architecturally excellent, environmentally sustainable and have the necessary community facilities, for childcare, work and community development. We will be looking for support from the County Council, the UDCs and other state agencies, as well as local developers and community organisations, to make this possible. If you need housing, would like to help, or to find out more, please contact us.