€500k house write-down

County hall has been forced to sell off four houses for almost half a million euro less than the original sale price the homes.

Laois County Councillors give officials the go-ahead to officials sell off the four council owned-properties. The local authority sold each house in Market Mews, Maryborough Village in Portlaoise for €65,000.

While this netted county hall €260,000 of badly needed money, it is a lot less than the €756,000 than what the council had hoped to earn from the sale.

The four homes were advertised for sale under the council’s affordable home scheme in 2009 at €189,000.

The scheme was set up to help people buy a home who would otherwise not have been able to afford one.

In June 2011, the Government brought the scheme to an end. The Department of the Environment announced that the schemes were ending “due to the reality of market conditions across the country and the very significant easing of affordability”.