A local councillor is calling for action to be taken when it comes to creating more affordable housing in Co Monaghan. Fine Gael's Alan Johnston raised his concerns at this month's sitting of Monaghan County Council.
According to Cllr Johnston, a lack of affordable housing is restricting further development in Monaghan Town such as expanding courses at Monaghan Institute. From 2015 the local authority has built 500 new houses which Cllr Johnston described as "great" however none of them were affordable housing. Cllr Johnston says many hard-working households can get a mortgage and a deposit sorted for a new home yet they are still short on what the market value of the houses are in the Monaghan Town area or indeed any area across the county.
As a result, be believes more affordable housing is needed to target this demographic of people who are moving away; Cllr Johnston explained; "Unfortunately this demographic of people are above the threshold for social housing supports, so many feel that the only alternative is to move away. We need to stop the brain drain and keep people in Monaghan as much as possible."
