Erica Robb shared a mixture of trepidation and anticipation about relocating to a mobile home with her husband, Dave, and their little girl, Georgia, aged six. The family’s Donegal house is slated for demolition, with a replacement house in its place. Erica appreciates that they can progress and continue their lives, instead of being caught up in uncertainty.
A surge in the adoption of the publicly-funded scheme, bettered last year to assist homeowners whose properties are falling apart due to the use of faulty building blocks, is reportedly seen in Donegal. The scheme provides a grant of €15,000 to cover temporary living space costs during the renovation or reconstruction of their houses.
Nonetheless, due to the acute scarcity of houses in the Inishowen peninsula, the region most impacted by the defective block problem, numerous families are compelled to shift to mobile houses or live with kin while their houses undergo repairs.
The Robbs, domiciled in Quigley’s Point, sited between Muff and Moville, acquired a used mobile home. They relocated it to their stand-alone dwelling site and linked it to the services. Erica mentioned, “We checked some neighbouring houses, but the rent was in excess of €1,000 monthly. Thus we figured the €3,300 mobile home wouldn’t be as costly as a €12,000 rent.”
The house due for levelling was constructed in 2007, but was left incomplete due to the property crash. They purchased it in 2014, financed its completion, and then moved in. Erica recalls, “There were a few cracks, and they were attributed to settling, but as we observed them enlarging, we grew wary, and waited for a corrective scheme. When we eventually tested it, it was confirmed to have very high levels.”
Demolition is planned for September, and the build of the new house could take over a year. The Robbs are eligible for the augmented scheme, which has a cap of €420,000, inclusive of the €15,000 funding for temporary shelter. However, the cost of their house’s razing and reconstruction is likely to approximate €460,000.
Paddy Diver, a resident of Carndonagh, relocated to a caravan and a mobile home on his property with his wife and three children around six months ago. This move was necessitated by the demolition and reconstruction of their house. Paddy expressed difficulty in finding local living arrangements. The largest mobile home they could locate had only three bedrooms and wasn’t spacious enough. As a result, an additional small caravan was set beside it.
His eldest son, Mark, a 25-year-old worker first moved into the caravan, but due to its dreary condition, alterations to a shed on the property were made and Mark relocated there. Paddy admitted that the situation was far from ideal, especially given the scarcity of rental properties in Donegal. He attributed the housing challenge to the ongoing immigration and mica crises.
Like the Robbs, Paddy decided to construct a wooden-framed house, expressing his lack of trust in the quality of the blocks found in Donegal and rural Ireland. The reconstruction expenses are expected to exceed the budget, but by how much is unclear at this stage. Paddy mentioned that he has retained elements like the doors and stairs, but the final cost would become evident only upon delving deeper into the process.
In another case, Joy Beard from Buncrana, an independent councillor elected in the latest local elections under the 100% Redress Party, is temporarily residing in a mobile home with her husband. Their former house, a 2007 purchase, was recently demolished about a month back. A new house is being built in its place, financed through government scheme funds. The couple anticipates the completion of their new home within a year.
“There are two major concerns to address,” she claims. “We are faced with the challenge of housing shortages, compounded by the issue of defective blocks. Of course, issues pertaining to refugees and immigration aren’t absent here, but our situation in Inishowen is distinctive. Many are holding back from applying to the scheme since they lack other living options.”
She stresses that only those owning land around their homes could consider a mobile home solution. “Mobile homes won’t serve you in a residential estate, and many such estates are facing demolition here.”
In the face of this housing conundrum, Dara Furey from Sean Furey Estate Agents located in Buncrana, indicates that people are resorting to live with older family members. He noted a grant exists for €15,000 worth of rental, but it isn’t beneficial without available accommodation.
Rapidly rising rental costs and increasing mobile home prices are concerns he highlights. He quotes, “Money is the crux of every issue.” Rent for a three-bedroom house currently sits around €1,200, but rental properties are scarce, causing long waiting lists with letting agents.
Furey mentions a dire need for additional social housing.
As per his information, over the past four years, only six homes have been privately built and offered for sale on the peninsula. He states “There’s virtually no private construction happening as the house building expense exceeds the selling price. We’re confronted with challenges from multiple directions.”
Meanwhile Councillor Michael McDermott, Chair of the Donegal County Council’s defective blocks committee (representing Fianna Fáil), mentions an uptick in activity since the Government launched an enhanced support scheme in June of the previous year.
“People are benefitting from the scheme. At present, approximately 2,500 applications have been made in Donegal, around 220 or 230 are in progress at present. However, considering the scale of repairs needed, these are still marginal figures in comparison to the total number of houses requiring repairs.”
He estimates that between 6,000 and 10,000 homes need to be either knocked down or fixed, and despite some progress he says, “We are only just beginning this enormous task. Though, concededly, the scheme has progressed significantly.”
The original programme, launched for submissions in June 2020, mandated a maximum limit of €247,000 and only accounted for 90% of the expenditure. However, the latest programme sets a limit of €420,000 and can cater for all expenses, albeit lower for smaller residences. The programme presents five distinctive choices based on the evaluator’s report of the structure, which can range anywhere from thorough knock-down to replacement of exterior walls to varying degrees. Individuals that have already filed under the previous programme can avail the new cap, thus they are not left at a disadvantage.
The Housing Department recorded 502 approvals from Donegal for total demolition under both programmes, with 156 being from the programme introduced the previous year. Lesser quantity of approvals were issued under the other alternatives, making a total of 712 approved across all categories, 239 of which are under the recent programme. A total of 77 property owners have received compensations under the grant component of the programme meant for alternative accommodation.