HOUSING MINISTER MICHAEL FINNERAN has said that local authorities should use some of the thousands of empty properties across the country for social housing.

However, speaking to Morning Ireland earlier today, Finneran said that some local authorities haven’t engaged to the level he had hoped for or expected to date.

“All new schemes take some time to bed down and that may be the reason,” he said.

The minister said that 2,500 units have already been taken for long-term leasing, and his office was engaged on a day-to-day basis with local authorities to discuss accessing the resources the minister is hoping for.

Finneran said that for the first time, local authority offices must take charge of the maintenance and management of these properties, but he didn’t expect the authorities to take over any properties that weren’t fully finished and available for renting.

He has asked local authorities to engage with developers who have unsold homes to see if they are interested in renting them out, and added that a number of developers who are interested in participating in the plan have already made contact.

Homeless charity Focus Ireland estimated last week that up to 100,000 households are currently on local authority waiting lists for housing, the Irish Times reported.

However, Finneran today said that there was “no evidence” that so many households were on the list.

Admitting that the 2008 figures for those waiting for housing could be out of date, he said that that was the last official count conducted by local authorities. Finneran said that data showed that 56,000 households were on the waiting list, but that figure included people who are on the rental accommodation scheme and rent supplement.

He said that he couldn’t take all the empty houses, but would take 23,000 houses onto the scheme.

Last week, a nationwide survey revealed that there are over 2,800 ghost estates – or 120,000 vacant homes – in Ireland.