Little interest in new repair and lease scheme
THERE has been very little response to the new Repair and Lease Scheme brought in by the Government to have vacant property used for housing.
Owners of houses can have their properties repaired in exchange for a long term lease with the local authority who can give the property to those on the housing list.
House and apartment owners who have properties vacant for at least a year and which requires an amount of repairs to bring them up to standard are being encouraged to contact their local authority.
However, the uptake to date has been minimal.
The scheme stipulates that there must be a social housing demand for the property and the minimum lease is ten years, 15 years or 20 years depending on the cost of the upgrade works.
The terms of lease is set at 80% or 85% for apartments of the current market rental rates in the location.
A further adjustment to the lease payment will be made to off-set the cost of the repair work until it has been repaid. The maximum cost of repairs allowable under the initiative will be €40,000.
The Department of Housing states that as the owner is playing for the repairs through an offset against rental income it was in their interest that upgrade expenses were not excessive.
The benefits to the owners say the Department is that there was guaranteed rent, no rent would be lost during vacant periods there would be no dealing with tenants and day to day maintenance or collecting rent or finding a new tenant.
Senior Executive Officer, Joe Murphy told the meeting the council had been given a target of ten for the year but the interest so far was very little despite it being advertised on its website.
There was one application for a property just outside of Sligo. Mr Murphy said properties would have to meet the needs of potential tenants who would normally prefer to be in Sligo.
Cllr Michael Clarke said the scheme just wasn’t attractive to property owners. It wasn’t a grant situation. He said the Government should be building social housing and not relying on the private sector.
He proposed the council write to the Minister seeking more staff and funding to build social housing. This was agreed unanimously.
Cllr Keith Henry agreed that the scheme just wasn’t attractive the way it was set up.
Cllr Dara Mulvey said he believed many property owners weren’t aware of the scheme and he suggested there was need for a campaign to highlight it more.
Cllr Martin Baker said the demand for social housing “was unreal.”
SLIGO County Council will contact High Park NS with regard to the provision of a disabled parking space there, senior engineer, Paddy Hughes informed Councillor Michael Clarke.