CORK County Council invested €130,996,133 in its housing programme in 2025.

In a breakdown of the figures contained in last year’s housing report, the council’s director of housing, Keith Jones said €101,575,089 was used to acquire turnkey developments which were built specifically for the local authority, as well as acquisitions, own builds and social houses.
In addition, part of that €101,000 was used to pay for new housing under the buy and renew scheme, repair and leasing, as well as maintenance
works.

A portion of the total amount – which the council claimed from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in 2025 – was spent on extensions to social housing units, affordable housing, vacant and derelict properties, energy efficiency and retrofitting, as well as private house grants throughout the county. Funding was also used to provide for housing assistance payments, otherwise known as HAP.

The housing report showed that the number of houses built between 2022 and 2024 was 1,304, with the 400 new builds under the 2025 allocation described as being ‘on track.’

Included in the local authority’s construction programme are the two new units at the former garda station in Adrigole; 12 units at Greenmount Road in Ballydehob; six units in Schull; three at Tawnies Lower in Clonakilty; two at Park Road in Dunmanway; eight at Church Road in Durrus; two units at the former garda station in Goleen; 20 at Cammogue in Kinsale; and 58 at Abbeylands, which is also in Kinsale.

The council is also seeking to develop 21 new social housing units on a site at Old Barrack Road in Bantry, but that is now before the High Court as the subject of a judicial review.

During a discussion about the area’s housing needs at a recent meeting of the Western Division, Cllr Marie O’Sullivan (FG) said: ‘There is a serious demand for one, and two, bedroom properties.’  Cllr Ann Bambury (SD) agreed saying: ‘A good majority of the people on the housing list are single.