Renters ‘panicking’ over losing homes

Council deals with 300 notices to quit since June

People living in rented accommodation who have been served with notices to quit by their landlord are “panicking”, a Nenagh councillor has claimed.

Cllr Séamie Morris told last week's meeting of Nenagh Municipal District that he has never seen as much pressure on housing in the last 20 years as he has in the last six months. The situation has been exacerbated by an increase in the number of notices to quit (NTQs) issued by private landlords. He said Tipperary Co Council was notified of 166 NTQs in the space of two months last year and these are coming to fruition now.

Cllr Morris said he has been contacted by people - the vast majority of whom have jobs - who are “panicking” because they cannot find anywhere where else to rent, or buy. He praised the council's Housing section for the manner in which it deals with people in such situations.

Senior Executive Officer Cora Morrissey said the council has dealt with in excess of 300 NTQs since last June. The council has either purchased the property in question, is in the process of purchasing, or has the case under consideration. Ms Morrissey said there are a range of factors to consider before the council buys a NTQ property, including the needs of the applicant, the condition of the accommodation and price of the accommodation.

Cllr Michael O'Meara expressed disappointment with the housing allocations coming to the Nenagh district, which he said are below those of Clonmel and Thurles. But he said the council could be doing more to make its existing accommodation available faster, including carrying out repair works with its own staff.

Cllr O'Meara was aware of a number of council houses in Cloughjordan and Borrisokane that have been vacant for some time. He noted that some vacant houses are dealt with at district level while others are on a county level.

“There has to be a way of streamlining the process,” Cllr O'Meara told the four Housing officers present at the meeting. “I don't care who does the work as long as it's done. People want to see keys being allocated... we need to up our game.”

District Engineer Barry Murphy said the council processed 22 voids, or vacant council houses last year, eliminating its backlog. Voids are a priority, though he pointed out that there is a shortage of contractors available to do the work.

Cllr Phyll Bugler was disappointed to see only seven applications countywide for the council's housing loan scheme this year. Three of these were in the Nenagh district and just one was deemed valid.

Administrative Officer Shane Grogan said these figures applied to January and February. The council approved €1.6 million in housing loans last year. There would always be a discrepancy between the numbers received and invalid applications. The council would work closely on the matter with individual applicants.

Cllr Joe Hannigan said those working in Housing have the most challenging job in the council. The situation is not helped by the thousands of people migrating into the country, he said, mentioning the numbers accommodated in hotels and tourism accommodation. Cllr Hannigan said there is a three-year derogation for the use of such accommodation for international protection applicants and he asked if any plans have been discussed with the council for accommodating these people once the three-year period has lapsed.

Cllr Morris said the lack of housing is driving young people away from Ireland. People are even delaying having children because of the situation - “that'll have serious consequences,” he warned.

Mentioning an affordable housing scheme planned for Clonmel, Cllr Morris called for a similar scheme to be rolled out in Nenagh without waiting to see how the south Tipperary project goes.

Mr Grogan said there is no affordable housing scheme planned for Nenagh at the moment. Clonmel was chosen because of its population. The council would however be contacting developers with live planning applications to see if they would be interested in providing affordable housing within those developments.

On the subject of IPA accommodation, Mr Grogan said the council has no direct relationship with the applicants, though it does have an integration unit to assist their situation. He said the council has not been made aware of any plans for housing these migrants after three years.