Rent arrears’ rise continues

THERE has been a ‘ huge increase’ in the figures for 2016 and 2017 for the value of rents in the county that are in arrears, Cllr. Edel Corrigan said last week.

In the monthly housing progress report, council officials said that €4,768,453 was owed in rent by a total of 2,025 accounts. And there are 1,060 of these tenants who are paying rent by household budget plans.

Cllr. Corrigan said: ‘Looking at the figures, I’m wondering what are we learning from past experiences? This has been discussed here previously, so how do we deal with this and is it working? Are we able to go back to previous systems where there was outreach to tenants in their homes?

‘Because it looks like, unfortunately, whatever has been done is not working’.

Aoife Lawler from housing said the council now has access to figures from the Department of Social Protection and ‘we are no longer reliant just on tenants’.

Ms Lawler said: ‘ There are people who have not told us the truth about their employment or increases in social welfare. We are working through the accounts.

‘ The reason that the rent arrears are increasing is that we have a better idea of what’s happening and parallel to that, we are working with people in household budget plans where they are unable to pay in one lump sum.

‘We would like to separate these figures and indicate those who are not paying and those who are in a payment plan and paying gradually.

‘ They are cited as arrears but they are being managed. If, after three years, people are not engaging with us, we will issue proceedings’. Cllr. Maria Doyle said: ‘It’s not set in stone that those on payment plans are actually paying’. Ms Lawler said in some cases, the rent was being taken out of social welfare payments before the tenants get it’.