Dublin City Council is planning to use some unsold affordable housing units for temporary social accommodation.
They are also planning to further reduce the price of affordable housing by 25% to offload a backlog of 630 unwanted residential units.
The council's housing committee heard this evening that the council is paying €330,000 a month in loan charges.
This does not include service charges and the council has yet to pay for nearly half of the affordable units, it is possible the charges would double if they remain unsold.
The housing committee was told that the Department of the Environment is considering a 'rent before you buy' scheme for affordable housing similar to ones offered by private developers.
Executive manage Peter Ayrton said the council ‘hasn't got a bean’ in its budget to purchase the unwanted units for social housing.
But there is money to temporarily rent some to people on the housing waiting list under the Rental Allowance Scheme.
Mr Ayrton said the units would be put to a productive use and they could then be returned to the affordable housing list when the market improves.
Fianna Fáil councillor Tom Brabazon said the picture in Belmayne in north Dublin is very bleak where there are hundreds of unoccupied units.
He said it would be a ‘gargantuan mistake’ to convert vacant housing into social housing and that this could threaten future private development.
