Some families will be facing homelessness in ’26

Local councillors have voiced fear for people becoming homeless in 2026 due to the lack of rental availability and housing supports that do not go far enough to help.

Housing problems were raised at the December meeting of Nenagh Municipal District, which heard that there are 769 approved applicants for social housing in the district, 478 of them in the town of Nenagh. Local councillor Louise Morgan Walsh was aware of a significant number of private tenants being asked to leave their accommodation because the landlord wanted to sell.

“I have people going to be homeless in the new year because they can’t get anywhere to rent,” Cllr Morgan Walsh told the meeting.

Cllr Joe Hannigan mentioned a case he was working with where a woman was taken off the council’s housing list because she had “improved her situation”.

“Rather than being rewarded or whatever, she’s being punished,” he exclaimed, telling those present that the woman had to move back in with her family. Cllr Hannigan said the income threshold for social housing in Tipperary, at €30,000, is too low and he wanted to know if the local authority could do anything to raise it.

COUNCIL LOANS

Cllr Pamela Quirke O’Meara was engaging with a couple bringing in two incomes but who could not get a mortgage. She thought the housing loan scheme operated by Tipperary Co Council could assist, but observed that only eight loans had been approved in the county in 2025, and only two of them were issued.

Housing Officer Gillian Barry said the council received €1.5 million to purchase homes where tenants had been served with notices to quit in 2025. The council would probably receive a similar allocation in 2026 and this would again be ringfenced for people at risk of homelessness people with disability.

Ms Barry pointed that the income threshold is set by the Department of Housing. It is higher in many other counties, and is based on house prices and family composition.

Local authority home loans come down to the applicant’s ability to pay, Ms Barry said, pointing out that the applicant must have been refused a bank mortgage before applying to the council. While she hoped to see more loans approved in January, she pointed out that often approved applicants cannot find a house to buy.

Cllr Quirke O’Meara did not think the loan scheme made sense. She noted that loan approval was for a maximum of €275,000. “That won’t buy much in Tipperary,” she noted suggesting that the low number of people receiving loans indicates that the scheme needs to be looked at.

Cllr Hannigan did not believe it is the case that houses are cheaper in Tipperary than Galway, where the income threshold limit is higher. There is a “middle section of people” unable to get a mortgage in this county and there is nowhere for them to rent, so the threshold has to be raised, Cllr Hannigan said. He called on all present to lobby TDs towards that end, pointing out that even someone on minimum wage would barely come under the threshold in Tipperary.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Cllr Fiona Bonfield said she had been advised by the Department of Housing that the income threshold would be revisited in the new year. She inquired about the closing date for developers to provide an affordable housing scheme, something she believed would be a big help in dealing with local housing problems.

Ms Barry said the council would follow up with the department on income threholds and made the point that the threshold was last raised in January 2023. The council has sought funding and expressions of interest from developers in providing affordable housing in Nenagh. Talks have been entered into with one developer and Ms Barry was hopeful of a positive outcome.

Cllr Hannigan mentioned Nenagh’s Stereame site, which has long been identified as a suitable location for housing but is one of many council-owned lands around the county that are “just sitting there”. Water service is an issue there, as it is in Puckane, where the council has had land for housing for 20 years. “It’s a saga at this stage,” he exclaimed, mentioning a sewage line issue cited by Uisce Éireann.

Cllr Michael O’Meara’s theory was that this was a “stalling process” on the part of Uisce Éireann because the treatment plant in Puckane needs upgrading. “They’re just kicking the can down the road,” he said.

Cllr Hannigan rejoined that over €10 billion would be spent on piping Shannon water to Dublin but there is no money for upgrading lines or treatment plants. “Who’s pulling the wool over whose eyes here?” he asked. “It’s time to wake up and smell the roses.”

Cathaoirleach, Cllr Phyll Bugler said a letter would go to Uisce Éireann emphasising local disatifcation over water infrastructure in the Nenagh district.

CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS

Of the many new council houses planned for the district, Cllr Michael O’Meara welcomed news that seven in the village of Rathcabbin have a completion timeframe of 2027.

Cllr Morgan Walsh inquired about the private development of houses between the Abbey Court Hotel and Homesavers in Nenagh. District Director Liam Brett said a portion of these houses would be given to the council under Part V of the Planning & Development Act; he was to follow up on the exact number agreed.