Council homes empty for months as offers snubbed

7sr2z3fely84g5

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/council-homes-empty-for-months-as-offers-snubbed-2812211.html

LOCAL authorities are taking an average of five months to re-let council houses even though over 100,000 people are on waiting lists for a home.
As many as one in 20 council houses across the State are lying idle and among the reasons is that prospective tenants are snubbing an offer of a home in places they decide are "undesirable".
A major report into the State's spending on local authority housing says that people who refuse two "reasonable" offers of a home should be forced to suffer "substantial penalties" including moving them further down the waiting list.
It added that councils were failing to inspect properties prior to them being vacated, which added to delays in re-letting.
"Local authorities should operate a refusal policy whereby tenants who refuse two reasonable offers of accommodation should suffer substantial penalties... (including) being placed further down the waiting list for a set period of time," the report from the local government auditor in the Department of the Environment said.
It added that councils needed to address anti-social behaviour in these areas, improve the physical environment and implement measures to "counteract" the negative perception of certain low-demand or "undesirable" areas.
Officially, more than 56,000 families are waiting for a home but that is based on the last count in 2008. A count is currently under way, and it's expected that the number could rise to as many as 100,000 as the impact of the recession deepens.
The review found that 7,045 homes were not available for letting in December 2008 -- the most recent year for which figures are available -- from a total stock of 122,446.
In 2007, average vacancy rates stood at 5.2pc, rising to 5.75pc the following year.
Among the reasons was that homes were left in "such a state of disrepair" that major refurbishment work had to be completed before they could be re-let.
There were no inspections of council houses in many areas prior to a tenant leaving, meaning that councils were not aware of any damage caused.
Inspections
The report said formal inspections should be carried out on a regular basis.
Auditors carried out an in-depth probe into eight local authorities -- Cavan; Cork City; Dublin City; Dun Laoghaire Rathdown; Galway City; Kerry; Mayo and Wicklow -- and found some councils were better than others at meeting self-imposed targets for completing repairs.
In Kerry, 92.9pc of repairs were completing on time, compared with 85pc in Dublin City.
But the average time to re-let a dwelling ranged from 36 weeks in Kerry to 10 weeks in Cavan. Among the reasons given for the delays were budget constraints, a high level of refusals by applicants and the amount of repair work needed.
Councils spent €81.8m in 2008 on housing maintenance and improvements, but the cost of refurbishing the homes widely varied. It is hoped a new system of tendering jobs should help reduce prices.
Housing Minister Willie Penrose said the key recommendations of the report would be implemented "as a matter of urgency".

Do some people think they are on house hunting tv program ..

RachaelVO

Maia Flabby Confetti wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/council-homes-empty-for-months-as-offers-snubbed-2812211.html



Do some people think they are on house hunting tv program ..

So do you think it's ok for a family to move into a house that is in disrepair? You surely couldn't expect parents to move their children into a home that is in tatters or do you?

tsoparno

i would imagine some people are holding out in the hope of getting a house in a half decent estate rather than being thrown into the worst housing estate in their town.
because once you go in there its very very hard to get out of it,if the council actually evicted the anti social tenants of these place's people wouldn't mind going in there

7sr2z3fely84g5

RachaelVO wrote: »

So do you think it's ok for a family to move into a house that is in disrepair? You surely couldn't expect parents to move their children into a home that is in tatters or do you?

i understand that,but heard stories of the babymakers complaining the house would be too big or too small or not in the right area for the house parties..

mikemac

Once you take a house I believe (and I'm probably wrong) you have to stay two years before you can transfer or arrange a swop with another tenant.

People want to hold out for a good house in a nice area. Who wouldn't?

And some estates are hell, Primetime Investigates did a series on this, mainly on Tipperary Town. No family would be happy moving there, so they feel it's better off to stay on rent allowance and wait for a better offfer

These stories you've heard OP, are these friend of a friend stories or straight from council staff?

Adyx

RachaelVO wrote: »

So do you think it's ok for a family to move into a house that is in disrepair? You surely couldn't expect parents to move their children into a home that is in tatters or do you?

Nobody suggested anything like that. There are 2 parts to the article. 1 about the repairs needed by some houses and the delay in getting the repairs done. The second part is about people refusing housing offers, possibly due to their location.

Logical Fallacy

Maia Flabby Confetti wrote: »

i understand that,but heard stories of the babymakers complaining the house would be too big or too small or not in the right area for the house parties..

Let me guess...they say.... right?

SEPT 23 1989

OP have yourself a little drive around some of the more colourful estates in South West Dublin,pick one of these abandoned houses and imagine yourself bringing up a family there.

squod

Let me get this straight. Councils are maintaining houses that don't get used? These houses a financial liability to them and they haven't off loaded them to free up resources?

Jebus, someone get me a job in that place. I can fuhk around with other people's money at least that well.

Richard Hillman

If places are undesirable due to anti social behaviour then evict the undesirables. Whats so hard about that

I was watching a programme a while ago about Britains first council estates. When families moved into the houses they were given a strict guidebook about how they are expected to look after the house and to behave in the neighbourhood. The houses and neighbourhoods would be regularly inspected as well and if they were not up to scratch then BOOM, your out. Now a days, common sense is out the window to make way for the entitlement culture.

Elle Collins

I wouldn't blame them. I wouldn't raise my kids in a sh!thole either. Would you OP?

starviewadams

Only takes one or two bad family's to ruin a entire estate,have seen it here in Clondalkin with my own eyes,the council tell you to call the guards and the guards tell you its a council problem,nobody wants to deal with it.When the family finally moves on,the house is boarded up with steel shutters and forgotten about,then the dumping begins in the front and back gardens.

Logical Fallacy

squod wrote: »

Let me get this straight. Councils are maintaining houses that don't get used? These houses a financial liability to them and they haven't off loaded them to free up resources?

Jebus, someone get me a job in that place. I can fuhk around with other people's money at least that well.

Nope, more a case of Councils not maintaining houses so they are unusable.

mikemac

When the council, or corporation as it was back then took tenants for Ballymun, only good families were chosen and you have to do an interview.
It was a good place to live back then and modern

But the rot set in and standards weren't kept and it all went downhill. The good families wanted out and mostly did though some got left behind

A bit of prevention and active management can solve a lot of issues, a few bad eggs can bring down an entire area

Wile E. Coyote

Elle Collins wrote: »

I wouldn't blame them. I wouldn't raise my kids in a sh!thole either. Would you OP?

As long as the house was warm and clean then the area shouldn't matter. If you're in a position that you can pick and choose where you want to live then you shouldn't even be on a council waiting list.