RENT ROW RUMBLES ON
MOVES TO INCREASE RENTS TO €105 A WEEK IS NOT LEGAL MONDAY’S COUNCIL MEETING IS TOLD
There has been widespread shock and dismay since it emerged last Monday week that the Council intends to rise local housing rents, in some case to as high as €105 per week.
Letters went out from the council last Monday but now it has emerged that it is only councillors and not officials who can up rents.
However, the executive and councillors are on a collision course over who has the legal right to control rent rises.
Speaking at Monday’s county council meeting, Cllr Declan Bree said much stress has been caused by the council letters.
“Last week, a letter and rent review form was sent out by the Housing Office to all Council tenants advising that the Council is proposing to introduce a new Differential Rent Scheme.
“The letter stated that completed rent review forms together with income details and supporting documentation must be submitted to the Housing Office, not later than Monday 9 th December.”
“The letter further stated and warned that failure to fully complete and return the review form, together with relevant documentation, would result in the tenant being placed on rent of €105 per week with effect from 27 th April 2020.
“Needless to say the letter has caused widespread unease, upset and stress to tenants.
“According to the law the making and revocation of a Rent Scheme is a reserved function of the elected Council.
“The record will show that the elected Council unanimously decided that rents will not exceed €75 per week in any case.
“However, on Monday last the Council Executive, acting beyond its legal powers, issued a letter to tenants stating that rents will increase to €105 per week if tenants failed to complete and return certain documentation.
“In my view this is outrageous and unacceptable. The Council executive has no statutory or legal authority to increase or to threaten to increase the rent of tenants.
“Nor has it the power or authority to override the decision take by the elected Council.
“The letter issued by the Executive last Monday is not only disrespectful to tenants it is also contemptuous of the elected Council and the democratic process.
“I am now proposing that this Council instructs the Council Executive to immediately issue a new letter to tenants withdrawing the reference to households being placed on rent of €105 a week and apologising to tenants for causing them unnecessary stress.”
Cllr Bree proposed: “Noting that the making and revocation of a Differential Rent Scheme providing for the manner in which rents in respect of council dwellings shall be determined, is a reserved function of the elected councillors; and further noting that the Executive of the Council on the 25 th of November 2019, issued a letter to tenants which included a warning that rent would be increased to €105 per week with effect from April 27 th 2020, if tenants failed to return completed review forms and relevant documentation; and aware that the Council Executive has no statutory or legal authority to increase or threaten to increase the rent of tenants to €105 per week; and further aware the Council Executive acted beyond its legal powers by issuing such a letter; this Council hereby instructs the Council Executive to immediately issue a new letter to tenants withdrawing the reference to households being placed on rent of €105 a week and apologising to tenants for causing them unnecessary stress.”
Councillor Gino O’Boyle said the council move was a deeply reactionary one that would make local tenants pick up the tab for a lack of funds from central government.
“Any increase in council rents would be completely unacceptable and if the council try to drive it through, People Before Profit will organise a local campaign to resist them,” he warned.
“The letter arriving while we were in the middle of a Budget meeting was bad timing to say the least,” said Cllr MacManus at Monday’s council meeting He said the letter seeking information and supporting documentation was “pre-emptive, disrespectful of the reserve function of members and undermined the role of policy committees.”
He asked for the letter to be rescinded until Budget 2020 had been passed. Cathaoirleach of the Council Councillor Tom MacSharry said all members had since received “worried and stressful approaches from people.”
Director of Services for Housing Bartley Gavin said his advice was that they did have the authority to raise rents, because it was an executive function and the only reason it was included in the budget was just to inform members, not to seek their approval.
There followed much debate between Cllr Declan Bree and Ciarán Hayes over who had the authority to raise Council rent, with the former claiming it was a reserve function for elected members only, and the latter claiming that the laws giving members the authority had not yet been commenced, and Cllr Bree’s opinion was just that, an opinion, not fact.
Cllr Bree noted that if it was an Executive function, it required a written Executive Order, and no such order had been made regarding increasing the maximum rent from €75 to €105.
Cllr Bree therefore amended his motion and requested the Council Executive to “immediately issue a new letter to tenants withdrawing the reference to households being place on rent of €105 a week and apologising to tenants for causing them unnecessary stress.”
The motion was seconded by Cllr MacManus and passed. The rent review is still going ahead however, with tenants expected to share their income details with the Council.
Legal advice is now being sought as to who has the authority to increase rents.
Over two dozen protestors gathered outside Council Headquarters at Riverside at the start of the December meeting of the Council on Monday morning. They were there to protest the proposed raising of rent for Council tenants and the lifting of a €75 cap on maximum rent paid.
“We’re already spending extra money on the smokeless coal and we’re frozen. I’m down to me tods. And then they want money off pensioners. It’s ridiculous,” pensioner Terry Clarke told The Sligo Champion.
“I’m paying €75 a week and I’m 71 years of age, and they’re looking to put up the rent. It’s unbelievable,” said Michael McLoughlin.
Noelle Coyle told this newspaper that the rent hike was an attempt to push through a budget that didn’t help people.
“Coming up to the days of Christmas, lifting the rent cap of €75 to whatever they want. My rent will go up from €75 to €105 this year. Nothing stopping it going up another 30 per cent next year.
“We’re calling on the politicians that have been elected by the people of Sligo, do not push this budget through.
“Do not push that part of the budget through. I know the budget has to be pushed through one way or another, but you don’t have to have that in it. That is not a Directive from central Government. This is something that the officials here, who have not been elected by the people, but are paid by the taxpayer, what they have done is added to the budget.
“We’re to the pin of our collar as it is, no way can we afford another €30. I spoke to one pensioner paying €63 - their rent it going to go up to €90. Where are they going to get that? Remember when you’re a pensioner you also have to pay a certain amount in the chemist every week, some people are paying up on €30 a week for their medication.
“They talk about free health care, not a hope. And now they want to screw us with the rent. No way. The people are coming to come out and they’re going to fight it,” she said.
“Do not lift the cap. We can’t afford to pay any more,” she concluded.
In a statement issued after the meeting Chief Executive Ciaran Hayes said: “Had Cllr. Bree engaged with the Executive in advance of the Council meeting, he would have been advised that his information was incorrect’, he said.
“Instead, Cllr. Bree used a public meeting to express his opinion as a fact and in doing so, made serious and untrue accusations that the Executive operated beyond their powers. This is manifestly not the case and the Council Executive has demonstrated that they acted within the law.’
“It is regrettable’, according to Mr. Hayes, ‘ that unnecessary negativity and conflict continues to arise in the Council Chamber due to the ongoing lack of engagement by Cllr. Bree with the Executive, resulting in ill-informed public statements being made.’
He lamented a perceived return to the type of negativity that did so much reputational damage to Sligo in previous years and wonders if the lessons of those times have not been heeded. Stating that he had an obligation to be factual in his public utterances, he stressed a similar obligation of Councillors, all of whom have access to the professional advice of the Executive.
“Decision making in the local government system broadly falls into two categories.
“Executive decisions made, further to the law, by the Chief Executive and staff and reserved functions which are the preserve of the elected Council. This was the nub of an issue discussed in the Council meeting of 2nd December. It arose from correspondence to housing tenants, advising of a rent review and the need to return completed rent review forms as otherwise rent would be levied at €105 per week.
“The making of a differential rent scheme is an executive function. The Minster for Housing, Planning and local Government Eoghan Murphy confirmed the position in response to a Parliamentary question on Differential Rent Schemes that ‘ the making and amendment of such schemes is an executive function.’
“The Housing Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2009 did envisage that the making of a rent scheme may become a Reserved Function. However that section of the Act has not been commenced and thus is not legally operative. It is perhaps for this reason that the situation was misunderstood prior to been clarified fully during the meeting,” he said.
Cllr Bree said that last week I went through all Executive Orders and found that no Executive Order had or has been made with regard increasing the maximum rent from €75.00 to €105.00.