The deepening housing crisis in Galway was brought into focus this week as hundreds bid for the scarce few ‘affordable homes’ coming on the market.

At the same time, a report released showed that the price of renting a double room in the city had skyrocketed by over 30% in the space of a year.

A County Council affordable housing scheme in the Claregalway opened for applications at 10am on Monday – by lunchtime, there had been 112 applications for a total of 44 homes.

This comes after the city’s only affordable housing development of eight homes on the Letteragh Road attracted 21 applications in the first minute after it opened. Within 45 minutes, 50 applications had been received.

The urgency of these prospective buyers to escape the crippling rental market was explained on Monday afternoon when the Daft Rental Report showed average rents in the city had shot up by 10% in a year while in the county, they were up by over 8%.

Renters are now paying an average of almost €2,200 per month for a home in the city, and just over €1,600 in the county.

And there was more pain in the last twelve months for those renting a room in a share house as city centre prices for a double room soared by almost 31% to €711 per month. Those renting a room in the suburbs of the city were paying €671, up 38% on last year.

CAPTION: Liam Conneally, Chief Executive of Galway County Council and Councillor Martina Kinane, Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council pictured at the Garraí Na Gaoithe development at Baile Chláir.

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