O’Rourke calls for ‘downsizing’ housing scheme in Athlone

Local councillor Aengus O'Rourke said there's a need for a Government scheme in Athlone to help older people 'downsize' to homes better suited to their current needs.

"I'm regularly being contacted by older folk who are very interested in downsizing in the Athlone area, but small bungalows or apartments are not readily available," said Cllr O'Rourke.

"From a housing perspective, locally and nationally we need to do more to help people downsize, or as it is now called, 'right size'.

"Not only is it important to give older people the opportunity to 'right size', such a scheme would also potentially make thousands of three and four bedroom homes available for families once again.

"Cork City Council has really led the way in terms of right sizing schemes. The award-winning 30-unit Arus Mhuire development in Blackrock, on the southside of the city, is one good example.

"This gated scheme off the Skehard Road comprises a mix of one and two-bed units, is owned by the council, and managed by the Tuath housing association.

"Many more such schemes are planned under the government’s new housing strategy but are slow to materialise.

"While a national policy on rightsizing has yet to be finalised, the scheme should explore options to support and incentivise rightsizing on a voluntary basis.

"In Cork the scheme allows people aged 60 or over who own their private house, or who are existing local authority tenants, to apply to their local authority for a tenancy in one of its downsizing developments.

"The local authority would buy the private homes from the applicants and then offer the homeowners a tenancy in a downsizing scheme on a rental basis.

"Different financial arrangements would obviously, apply depending on the circumstances but in all cases, the local authority gets the larger house, and the applicant gets a tenancy in a downsizing scheme," stated the Fianna Fáil councillor.

"Many older people find living in a large house on their own to be lonely and expensive.

“Furthermore, older houses are not always easy to navigate through or live in as mobility and health issues arise."The beauty of such a scheme is that it gives people a choice, there is no pressure on anyone to sell their home, it is simply an option.

"There is no doubt that there are elderly people struggling to maintain their three or four-bedroom houses, we should be able to offer them support and at the same time, provide a home to a family who desperately needs it.

"A government supported scheme managed by the local authority, similar to what we have seen in Cork, is what I am pushing for in Athlone and Westmeath," Cllr O'Rourke concluded.