Kilkenny tenancy rules questioned amid claim of 'morally reprehensible' handling

Concerns over tenancy succession and tenant rights in council homes resulted in two relevant motions being passed unanimously at Monday’s plenary meeting of Kilkenny County Council.

Cllr Eugene McGuinness first tabled a motion asking the council’s Housing Strategic Policy Committee to review the policy of tenancy succession “so that any unintended consequences… are eliminated.”

He said he previously sat on the housing committee when succession rules were amended, after concerns that “people [could be] in a house only weeks before a parent would die and try to take over that house.”

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However, he warned that the policy could also impact people in ‘technical breach’, giving examples such as being away for a long period without informing the council, or falling behind on rent.

Cllr McGuinness outlined one case he said had come to his attention involving a young woman who had been away “touring Cambodia” before returning home to care for her mother, who had cancer and later motor neurone disease.

He said the tenant later died and, as a result, the young woman was left in the house.

However, he claimed that “one month later” Kilkenny County Council wrote to her and told her to leave, “making herself homeless”, in what he described as “the worst housing crisis Kilkenny and Ireland has seen.”

Cllr McGuinness said that in his original proposal he had sought to stop what he described as an eviction, stating that the young woman would “effectively… be in court in two weeks time.”

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He said he wanted the council to “stop and try to come to some accommodation.”

He also sharply criticised what he described as a contrast between the approach being taken in this case and other situations he has been made aware of and reported.

What “really really irritates” him, he said, was that there were “thugs” and “criminals” in council tenancies in Kilkenny who, he alleged, take drugs in the back door and sell them out the front, yet “not one of those have been asked to leave their tenancies.”

In some cases, he added, that there were instances of illegal development in back gardens where people were living and he further alleged the council knew about these, but had not evicted tenants involved.

Cllr McGuinness also framed the issue as one of fairness and power, saying he did not want tenants to face a situation where a “county council jackboot” replaced “the British jackboot” of the past.

“It might be legally correct,” he said, “but it is morally reprehensible what’s going on.”

Cllr Maria Dollard seconded the motion and highlighted the need to account for “the complexity of the lived lives” of Kilkenny County Council tenants.

The motion was passed unanimously and without amendment.

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Directly after, Fine Gael’s Cllr David Fitzgerald tabled a separate motion focused on the rights of council tenants in relation to maintenance standards and oversight.

His motion called on the Minister and Department of Housing to bring forward regulations obliging all local authorities and approved housing bodies to register their tenancies with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).

The aim, his motion stated, was to ensure “all tenants, both public and private, have equal rights to apply to the RTB regarding their tenancy and the standard of maintenance of the homes.”

Cllr Fitzgerald told councillors he is “a licensed property service provider” and said that in the course of his work he manages a number of private residential properties.

He said those homes are “regularly subject to inspection by the local authority” to ensure they are maintained to the required standard.

However, he said that in the course of his work recently he had reason to visit two local authority rented houses and what he saw left him concluding that “there’s a double standard here”.

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While he stressed he was “not critical of Kilkenny County Council in particular,” he argued that “the State is being hypocritical” by operating “two different sets of standards” for those in local authority housing and those renting privately.

“People in local authority housing should have the same rights,” he said, including the right to have their properties inspected “from time to time by an independent inspectorate.”

He argued that the local authority should be obliged, “like any other private landlord,” to ensure its properties meet all relevant regulations.

He also said there should be an “independent regulatory body” so that anyone (whether in private or public housing) can make a case and have their rights “fully protected.”

Cllr Fitzgerald said he believes Kilkenny County Council is “one of the best” when it comes to housing, but added that he believes “individuals’ rights are not being protected.”

The motion was seconded by Cllr Maurice Shortall and passed unanimously.

Responding to councillors, A/Director of Services Ian Gardner said the local authority currently operates a “reactive maintenance” system, but is moving towards a “planned maintenance system.”

He said housing stock condition surveys are already under way and described them as “extremely detailed.”

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