It never dawned on Kevin Loftus that, when he returned to live in his native Ballina at the age of 30 in June 2021, he would have a problem finding somewhere to live. But the architect and co-founder of Ballina Green Town found himself, after 14 years studying and working around the world, part of the stuck at home generation.
“It was a good experience coming back,” insisted Loftus, who found himself part of a wave of contemporaries returning from Dublin and abroad, spurred on by the opportunities posed by remote working and a pandemic-related re-evaluation of their lifestyles. “A lot of my friends were moving back as well,” said the founder of ACT (Accelerating Change Together), a group of interested parties whose professional focus is on making the built environment more sustainable. Delighted at all the positive community initiatives in town aimed at making the place more attractive and sustainable, he was taken aback at the lack of rental options available, especially for single people