Letterkenny-Milford tops defective concrete social homes list - Donegal Daily

Donegal County Council has, to date, identified almost 2,000 social homes that are of concern due to defective concrete, with the Letterkenny-Milford area recor...

Donegal County Council has, to date, identified almost 2,000 social homes that are of concern due to defective concrete, with the Letterkenny-Milford area recording the highest number.

In a presentation to the council's Defective Concrete Block Committee, 1043 properties are exhibiting damage.

A total of 614 social homes in Donegal have pattern cracking evident in the property and 429 have 'significant' pattern cracking evident.

A further 938 properties are not showing signs of damage, but are located in an estate where damage has been identified.

When the figures are broken down into areas, Letterkenny-Milford has the highest number of homes identified, with 869.

Of this, 250 have pattern cracking evident in the property, while 190 have significant pattern cracking evident in the property.

There are 429 properties categorised as having pattern cracking in their estate.

In Inishowen, which is often cited as the 'epicentre' of the defective concrete there are 599 properties of concern.

Of that number, 187 have pattern cracking evident in the property and 194 have significant pattern cracking evident.

There 218 properties with pattern cracking noted in their estate.

There are 338 properties of concern in the Lifford/Stranorlar electoral area, with 98 exhibiting pattern cracking in the property.

There are 28 presenting with significant pattern cracking and 212 with pattern cracking in the estate.

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Glenties electoral area has 109 properties of concern, with 66 social homes having pattern cracking evident in the property and 12 with significant pattern cracking.

A total of 31 properties have pattern cracking evident in homes in their estate.

The Donegal Local Electoral Area has the lowest figure in the county, at 66.

Of this, there are six homes exhibiting significant pattern cracking and 13 with pattern cracking.

The presentation was given by Annemarie Conlon, Director of Housing, along with Eamonn Mahon and Brenda Ferguson of the Social Housing Remediation Team and Donna McGroarty, Acting Senior Executive Housing Officer.

The committee heard that Donegal County Council continues to engage with the Department of Housing regarding the proposed Remediation Programme for affected social homes.

The council is awaiting the confirmation of funding for this, as well as the enactment of legislation to allow works on its council stock.

These are 'essential' to allow the council to deliver plans and a timeline for works - in a multi-annual programme which will take a number of years.

The committee heard that the council is working within an 'unprecedented' situation.

To date, over 5,100 homes have been surveyed by the council and over 200 have undergone laboratory testing.

A total of 95 households have been relocated and the teams said they are working closely together to identify the various needs of tenants going forward.

They added how they intend to ensure strong communication and engagement with tenants on their needs, which include those of older tenants, those with disabilities and downsizing requests.

The committee was told that that there are still many matters that need to be clarified by the department, including staffing resources, increasing costs over years, timelines and the availability of designers and contractors to complete works.

Others matters surround re-tenanting and any cost implications on tenants should they wish to return to their original property, as well as the availability of housing stock for relocations.

Committee chairperson Gerry McMonagle said that a lot of work has been undertaken by the council, but there were also a lot of questions that need clarification from the Department of Housing.