A number of local authorities are taking more than two years to put new tenants in vacant houses, according to a recent report.
Despite 60,000 people waiting on local authority housing lists, the Local Government Audit service found there were 5,000 vacant social houses in the country prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Irish Examiner, the average turnaround time was 46 weeks at that point, however, Sligo County Council was taking 139 weeks (over two-and-a-half years).
Dublin City Council had an average turnaround of 104 weeks (two years), while Cork City Council was 63 weeks and Cork County Council was 53 weeks.
Of the 4,754 units listed as vacant at the end of 2019, one quarter were said to be awaiting refurbishment and 10 per cent were waiting on demolition or regeneration. Just 9 per cent of the units (421) were described as ready to be occupied.
The report also stated 54 of the units were classified as derelict and 33 council-owned properties were subject to legal proceedings. Twenty-six properties were said to have been vacant due to insufficient demand.
