Applicants could face eight year wait
PEOPLE applying for a council house could be waiting up to eight years to be allocated a home, it emerged at the July meeting of the Dundalk Municipal District Committee.
Cllr. Marianne Butler asked if there was an average waiting time for applicants on the social housing waiting list.
Councillors were told that the waiting time for allocation can be up to eight years.
Cllr. John McGahon queried the length of time it was taking for changes to tenant’s rent to be updated.
He told the council a constituent had come to him who had found herself in rent arrears even though she had notified the local authority of a change to her circumstances.
He asked what tenants are expected to do to avoid going into arrears while they await confirmation from the council about their new rate.
Council spokesman Alan Sherry said that the local authority are phoning tenants to advise them what the new monthly rent rate will likely be, so they can start paying the increased amount straight away and avoid going into arrears.
Councillors were told that the maximum time it will take to update individual tenants rental rates is ten weeks.
In the latest housing report to councillors, the total amount owed to the local authority in rent arrears was €4,977,373.
This had fallen somewhat, but continues to be a concern raised by councillors. There were 1,791 tenants facing arrears. Of these the vast majority of tenants (1,401) were in arrears of more than 12 weeks. The council confirmed that the number of tenants who paid rent by household budget by the end of May was 1,117.