Naas mother and children in 'overcrowded' house seeking assistance

A young Naas mother of two toddlers who is sharing what she describes as an 'overcrowded' house is desperately appealing for assistance from Kildare County Council.

The mother, whose son is due to start creche, this September, is sleeping on the couch of her parent's council house in Naas, which she has lived in all of her life.

She says that the children sleep in the sitting room with her.

The  unemployed 21- year- old mother, who does not want to be named said: “I have to put up their travel cots up and down everyday, they are in the sitting room with me. This is our only problem we need to be housed its out of hand now , I've tried Housing Assistance Payment and I'm on homeless Housing Assistance Payment and still too difficult ! I've been trying the last three and a half years."

She said:"I've been on the housing list in Kildare County Council since 2017. Ever since then I've been onto them about getting housed. I've been under pressure to find somewhere on the rent sites for the last four years and have got absolutely nothing as I have no references etc. Then yesterday my Mam gets a letter from the council stateing that we have been herby refused tenancy on my Mam's and Dad's application. So therefore i can't stay there long term.”

She said:”They need to house me and my two kids. I've been onto them for the last four years and I have everything to be a priority. I had no other option now than letting people know.”

Fianna Fáil TD,James Lawless, says getting elected in Co Kildare, back in 2014, he has seen a major shortage of housing. He says that while it is very easy to get approved for Housing Assistance Payment by Kildare County Council, it is very difficult to get a house to rent on it. He advises people seeking housing, like the Naas mother, with two children, in overcrowded conditions, to search through Daft, get a landlord who accepts Housing Assistance Payment and get Kildare County Council to approve it.

According to Deputy Lawless Kildare County Council has one of the greatest needs for housing in the country.

He said: “The last time I checked, Dublin city, Cork city and Co Kildare were in the greatest need of housing. There are families in dire straits, we need to build houses and increase the amount of rental accommodation.”

Deputy Lawless says that family style housing needs to be built, and there needs to be a mix of housing built, not just high rise apartments.

He says that if all the vacant properties in the county were seized, there still would not be enough housing available for the need.

Deputy Lawless said: “It is heartbreaking.”

He says that people on the Kildare County Council housing list could be waiting between seven to 10 years and says that affordability is also part of the problem, both for rental and buying.

He attributes the recession in 2008 to 2013 as being a major reason for the shortfall in housing and the major issue with getting planning permission in Co Kildare. He says that when builders had to leave the country to find work, houses stopped being built.

Several families who own land in the countryside have been unable to get planning permission in Co Kildare and many are paying very high levies, he says, when they finally get planning approved, in contrast to Laois County Council.

Deputy Lawless said: “In Kildare County Council people could be paying levies of €15,000 to €20,000 and in Offaly could be paying €5,000. Housing Assistance Payment is easy to get but the problem is getting a property to rent under this is not easy.”