Clampdown on way over possible exploitation of social housing policies in Kilkenny

At least fifteen repossession cases are currently before the court relating to people living in council houses in Kilkenny who the local authority claim are not legitimate tenants.

In one of these cases it is alleged by the local authority that the people staying at the property have an income of €150,000 and are paying no rent and are not entitled to reside there.

It is alleged that the family moved into the council property six months before the tenant died and have lived there for over a year and do not meet the criteria for social housing.

Director of Housing, Mary Mulholland told members of the Housing Strategic Policy Committee that several cases include ‘people not paying rent’.

“They are living rent free. If they don’t meet the eligibility criteria then they shouldn’t be there.”

Ms Mulholland outlined another case before the courts involved a family who moved into a council-owned property when the tenant moved out to care for another person. It is alleged when the tenant wanted to move back in she was prevented from doing so by the family who have an income of approximately €100,000.
“We can’t allow this to happen,” added Ms Mulholland.

The remarks were made during a discussion on the policies has in relation to Sucession of Tenancy and Right to Reside in council-owned property.

The matters were discussed at the most recent meeting of Kilkenny housing Strategic Policy Committee.

Ms Mulholland said that the current position is that in the event of the death of a council tenant the tenancy transfers to a surviving joint tenant or if both are deceased to the eldest child if they have a genuine housing need and have been ordinarily resident in the property and are over 18.

“As a result of the housing crisis people cannot source private rented accomodation and people are seeking out older relations and then when they die or go into a nursing home they let the council’s housing department know that they are living there.

“People are not telling us who is living there. Tenants need to apply for a right to reside and have to be on the rent book for succession of tenancy.

“There is housing stock occupied by people who do not have a housing need or who have niot said they are living there. We need a policy that is clearer. We are trying to make it as straightforward as we can,” she said.
Cllr Andrew McGuinness said that the ‘examples listed out are not acceptable’.

Ms Mulholland said that the examples were ‘not extreme’ adding that in most of the cases where people are not declared on the rent and are looking for succession they have ‘substantial incomes’.

“We have to formally look for repossession. We have no legal right unless we have a repossession order,” she said.

“Not declaring who is living in a house is a huge problem for us. People are not being truthful about who is living in a house. It is a condition of the tenancy and as the landlord we should know who is living in the house.

“People are moving back and are not declared on the rent. If you live in a council house then you she be declared and on the rent formed.

“The problem is when people disappear and they come back and say they were there all the time. You can’t have it everyway.”
Chairman of the Housing SPC Cllr Eamon Aylward said that there was ‘skullduggery’ going on.

“There are people chancing their arm and applying for succession of tenancy and that is wrong.”
Ms Mulholland added that the local authority is ‘trying to restrict succession when people are trying to get around the system’.

AMENDMENTS

A number of amendments were proposed to the Succession of Tenancy policy which will be discussed before Kilkenny County Council.