Shortage of accommodation problematic for local employer

A software company that announced 200 jobs in Athlone this week has said that securing accommodation for employees is proving to be a challenge, while the county's mayor fears that a lack of rental properties in the town may result in companies opting to set up elsewhere.

Neueda Technologies has pledged to provide the jobs over the next four years, 75 of which have already been created.

Around half of the employees are being hired from overseas and the company says that an average of two or three jobs are being created every week at the moment.

Those who travel from overseas to work in Neueda are seeking accommodation in the town and surrounds.

Managing Director Paul Madden said that finding accommodation for employees is proving to be a tough task.

“There is a shortage of accommodation. It's harder to solve than it should be. We have somebody in the office trying to seek accommodation,” he told the Westmeath Independent.

He added: “There could be more work done on the supply side of it. If there were another 200 apartments in Athlone they would be taken up, in my opinion,” he said.

The Mayor of Athlone Councillor Frankie Keena said he had spoken to staff at the announcement of jobs at Neueda on Monday and the message he was getting was that there was a difficulty in securing accommodation.

He said that this raised the “whole area of accommodation and the need for housing. It is something that we as a local authority can identify with, the need for it. It's something that we have to take on board”.

The Mayor of Westmeath, Councillor John Dolan (Fine Gael) said he is fearful that a lack of rented accommodation may deter other companies from setting up in Athlone.

“The fear I have is it's going to impact on our ability to encourage other companies to Athlone. If we are serious about this designation (as a regional centre for the midlands), we are going to have to provide somewhere for people to live,” he said.

He said that one option, short-term, should be considered: “We are looking to provide more social housing, but that is a slow painstaking process. We need to look at the likes of O'Connell Street. There are a lot of vacant properties there that could be converted. There are grants there for that. That's where I see the accommodation coming from in the short term,” he added.

The comments have come in the wake of a shortage of rented accommodation in Athlone for several months.

As of Tuesday morning, on property website www.daft.ie, there were just 11 properties for rent in Athlone town.

The rents ranged in price from €650 (a one-bed apartment) to €1,400 (a four-bed student apartment) per month. Of the 11, just three were houses; the rest were apartments. The houses were all four bed and the monthly rent ranged from €1,000 to €1,300. 

According to the most recent report from daft.ie, the average rent in Athlone is €856 per month. This is an increase of 11.2% year on year.