Galway County Council is planning for 20 new affordable housing settlements across the county – the first are expected to come on stream within two years.

The county’s first affordable housing schemes in more than a decade will be completed in 2025 and 2026 as the local authority plans to ease pressure on first-time buyers and working families paying high rents.

The affordable housing scheme delivers homes at reduced prices for people who cannot afford current house prices or rents, and whose incomes are over the threshold for social housing.

The new accommodation projects will include a mixture of affordable housing for purchase, and affordable rental – also known as cost rental – according to Galway County Council’s Director of Services for Housing, Michael Owens.

Mr Owens said the Council was “satisfied that there is a significant demand for affordable housing” in County Galway, and the local authority has now launched an online survey to determine the profile of the demand for affordable housing.

He said the Council had previously delivered a “significant number” of affordable housing projects across the county. But this will be the first such scheme since the final houses in Páirc na hAbhainn, Gortnahown, Athenry were sold in 2012 and 2013.

“A number of affordable housing projects are currently being planned by Galway County Council for delivery during 2025 to 2026,” Mr Owens told The Connacht Tribune.

He said the purpose of the Council’s online survey was to determine the profile of the demand for affordable housing, including both affordable purchase and affordable rental (cost rental) for 20 settlements across the county.

Pictured: Galway County Council’s Director of Services for Housing, Michael Owens.