If you emigrate can you keep your council house?

raspberrypie

Hi, we were thinking of maybe, just maybe, emigrating to Canada or NZ, or maybe even somewhere else. The thing is, if we do, do we automatically have to give up our council house? It's a great area and a great house. Anyway, our fear is that things may not work out in say Canada or wherever and within a year or two we may have to return to Ireland.

We are also worried that if things didn't work out abroad and we had to return and couldn't find work here immediately, would we be barred from applying for SW because of the HRC (Habitual Residency Clause) That's also a worry of course. Thanks.

andrea1983

Not necessarily. If you explain the circumstances to the CWO u can usually keep the house.

Dublin city council have a night porter (or maybe 2 in different parts of the city) who will ensure that the blinds are drawn and some lights left on in the evenings so that the house looks lived in.

Stheno

andrea1983 wrote: »

Dublin city council have a night porter (or maybe 2 in different parts of the city) who will ensure that the blinds are drawn and some lights left on in the evenings so that the house looks lived in.

This can't be true surely?

greendom

I really hope the answer is No (apologies to the OP). With housing stock in such short supply it would be pretty bad form to leave houses unoccupied for a year or more waiting for people to return who are no longer resident in the country

andrea1983

I'm pretty sure the situation is the same in Cork tbh. They call the night porters "stabilising homes in times of emigration" porters and they often open windows etc dring the summer to ensure the house is well aired.

The government is committed to encouraging people to return home if emigration does not work out. Often people develop knew and useful skills whilst away and can this can be of great benefit to the economy.

raspberrypie

andrea1983 wrote: »

Not necessarily. If you explain the circumstances to the CWO u can usually keep the house.

Dublin city council have a night porter (or maybe 2 in different parts of the city) who will ensure that the blinds are drawn and some lights left on in the evenings so that the house looks lived in.

Yeah, I heard about the night porter scheme but I thought it was only when you went on holiday to the Canaries for a month or two? I hope they make sure the cars are well looked after too. The CWO is close by so maybe she could pop around after work and sweep off leafs off the cars etc? Worth asking anyway I suppose.

Are you serious? A porter? Never heard of that. Me thinks you may be pulling my leg? (See above, btw, lol) You can buy light timers etc.

Tzardine

I would hope that it is not possible to do this. Complete madness. TBH I even find it mad that somebody could even think this would be possible / acceptable.

But I do wish you luck if you emigrate.

emeldc

andrea1983 wrote: »

Not necessarily. If you explain the circumstances to the CWO u can usually keep the house.

Dublin city council have a night porter (or maybe 2 in different parts of the city) who will ensure that the blinds are drawn and some lights left on in the evenings so that the house looks lived in.

Sweet Jebus, you couldn't make this sh1t up. I must ask my mortgage provider if they have a similar system.

andrea1983

TBF they don't really advertise it, but it definitely happens. I had a neighbour who emigrated to Australia with his wife. He returned about a year ago and found a job as an IT consultant and was able to move back into the house for a short period of time whilst he reestablished himself. He's renting privately elsewhere now and I'm not in touch with him so can't provide any other details of how he applied.

greendom

andrea1983 wrote: »

TBF they don't really advertise it, but it definitely happens. I had a neighbour who emigrated to Australia with his wife. He returned about a year ago and found a job as an IT consultant and was able to move back into the house for a short period of time whilst he reestablished himself. He's renting privately elsewhere now and I'm not in touch with him so can't provide any other details of how he applied.

Do the council at least let out the property for short term emergency cases ?

raspberrypie

greendom wrote: »

I really hope the answer is No (apologies to the OP). With housing stock in such short supply it would be pretty bad form to leave houses unoccupied for a year or more waiting for people to return who are no longer resident in the country

Meany, lol.

You have a point in one respect, in another, a no could discourage people from taking the risk of emigrating and in turn potentially costing the State, the taxpayer, even more through SW payments. And if it didn't work out abroad, potentially you'd be back on rent allowance in a privately rented dwelling and back on the housing list, again.

Pity successive government didn't invest more in social housing.

raspberrypie

emeldc wrote: »

Sweet Jebus, you couldn't make this sh1t up. I must ask my mortgage provider if they have a similar system.

I don't know what a tracker mortgage is? Oh, the days.....

andrea1983

greendom wrote: »

Do the council at least let out the property for short term emergency cases ?

That I don't know. I don't recall anyone moving in to the property but I know some family members who were visiting from (I'm not sure, but guessing) Mayo for the AI stayed there over the weekend.

mrsbyrne

raspberrypie wrote: »

Hi, we were thinking of maybe, just maybe, emigrating to Canada or NZ, or maybe even somewhere else. The thing is, if we do, do we automatically have to give up our council house? It's a great area and a great house. Anyway, our fear is that things may not work out in say Canada or wherever and within a year or two we may have to return to Ireland.

We are also worried that if things didn't work out abroad and we had to return and couldn't find work here immediately, would we be barred from applying for SW because of the HRC (Habitual Residency Clause) That's also a worry of course. Thanks.

No OP. There is a massive housing shortage in the country right now and families are suffering horrendously while waiting to be housed. You need to be absolutely certain when you leave here that your social housing entitlement is over, and that if it doesn't work out for you abroad that you may have great difficulty accessing services if you return.
If your feeling that this is unfair then you should try and imagine how you would feel if you returned from Canada and had to be put into a hostel because there were no houses, only to find that a load of houses were being kept empty in case emigrants decided to come home.

greendom

raspberrypie wrote: »

Meany, lol.

You have a point in one respect, in another, a no could discourage people from taking the risk of emigrating and in turn potentially costing the State, the taxpayer, even more through SW payments. And if it didn't work out abroad, potentially you'd be back on rent allowance in a privately rented dwelling and back on the housing list, again.

Pity successive government didn't invest more in social housing.

I've been called worse ! Ha!

I can see your point and think maybe there should be some sort of compromise where emigrants have 6 months to decide whether or not to return home. If they choose to stay away beyond the 6 months then the property is forfeited. it's just too valuable a resource to leave idle for longer, imo!

whomitconcerns

greendom wrote: »

I've been called worse ! Ha!

I can see your point and think maybe there should be some sort of compromise where emigrants have 6 months to decide whether or not to return home. If they choose to stay away beyond the 6 months then the property is forfeited. it's just too valuable a resource to leave idle for longer, imo!

but you can do that..if you buy your own house. If the house belongs to the country (people of) then why would we allow that? sorry to be harsh but its true!

We cant all afford to head off and try another country and have 100% fallback if it doesnt work out...Its called Life!

andrea1983

emeldc wrote: »

Sweet Jebus, you couldn't make this sh1t up. I must ask my mortgage provider if they have a similar system.

I know it sounds frustrating but if somebody goes off and gains new skills and talents that they will put to use in the economy, this should be encouraged.

I think that's the notion behind it anyway.

raspberrypie

andrea1983 wrote: »

TBF they don't really advertise it, but it definitely happens. I had a neighbour who emigrated to Australia with his wife. He returned about a year ago and found a job as an IT consultant and was able to move back into the house for a short period of time whilst he reestablished himself. He's renting privately elsewhere now and I'm not in touch with him so can't provide any other details of how he applied.

He may have done it on the sly. Might phone the housing dept and ask but it looks like it's a no.

burke027

I can't beleave this I'd true.
Seriousky if I emigrate can I keep my council house wtf.
I really hope this doesn't happen 1100 euro a month I pay for rent because we can't get a loan to buy a house.
And you ask can u keep your house if u emigrate what has this country come to I'm gob smacked

andrea1983

No it was definitely not done on the sly. You need to ask for the right department...stabilising homes etc. There's one or two that deal with it in DCC and Cork. i'm not sure about the other LA areas.

raspberrypie

mrsbyrne wrote: »

No OP. There is a massive housing shortage in the country right now and families are suffering horrendously while waiting to be housed. You need to be absolutely certain when you leave here that your social housing entitlement is over, and that if it doesn't work out for you abroad that you may have great difficulty accessing services if you return.
If your feeling that this is unfair then you should try and imagine how you would feel if you returned from Canada and had to be put into a hostel because there were no houses, only to find that a load of houses were being kept empty in case emigrants decided to come home.

Oh well. That pretty much settles it for us then. We stay. We don't take the plunge, as the risk is too great. So we stay on SW until, if, we can find employment.

Plates

Isn't this the definition of having your cake and eating it?

andrea1983

I agree completely.

The stabilising homes in times of emigration scheme is small to prevent this. But really the alternative dog in a manger attitude of not bettering or educating oneself to get a job or be a productive member of society is the other side of the coin as noted above by the OP who, if she can't have everything her way is going to live on handouts from hardworking members or society

keano25

I don't know which I'm more surprised at, the OP?

Or, the idiots who believed some of the replys...?

bucketybuck

raspberrypie wrote: »

You have a point in one respect, in another, a no could discourage people from taking the risk of emigrating and in turn potentially costing the State, the taxpayer, even more through SW payments.

It might surprise you to hear this, but in general the state does not want to encourage all of its residents to leave the country! They would prefer them to stay here and work.

capt fantastic

raspberrypie wrote: »

Meany, lol.

You have a point in one respect, in another, a no could discourage people from taking the risk of emigrating and in turn potentially costing the State, the taxpayer, even more through SW payments. And if it didn't work out abroad, potentially you'd be back on rent allowance in a privately rented dwelling and back on the housing list, again.

Pity successive government didn't invest more in social housing.

The amount of SW payments it would take for that to have actually been cost effect would be astound. You would need enough SW payments to actually build a house to make that logical.

Even if someone got skills that were worth contributing to the economy they are only worth it if that person gets a job and wouldn't need the social housing any more or at least not SW payments

Times are tight so I can see how building social housing would be hard. But we need more social house encase someone goes away and wants to keep the house is not the reason more house should have been built or not.

Sir Oxman

Bizarre if true.
Quite bizarre even for this kip.

delthedriver

Respectfully Op, are you pulling legs with this ?

I know the weather is bad and we need some cheering up !

Really would be amazed if there was the facility you are looking for.

Best wishes on your move abroad

raspberrypie

burke027 wrote: »

I can't beleave this I'd true.
Seriousky if I emigrate can I keep my council house wtf.
I really hope this doesn't happen 1100 euro a month I pay for rent because we can't get a loan to buy a house.
And you ask can u keep your house if u emigrate what has this country come to I'm gob smacked

No offence but you are looking at it in a knee jerk, short sighted way. If it could be done, it could well free up housing in the short to medium term, say up to 1 or 2 years. I would guess the vast majority of emigrants stay away for at least longer than one or two years. House available for new tenants if gone longer than that. Alternative, some/many, such as us, would not consider leaving in the first instance and house still remains occupied.

Having such an option is an incentive to emigrate, knowing that for a limited period of time there is a safety net if things don't work out abroad. We are not going to emigrate if the risk is too great, that means we stay, we stay and end up costing the Sate even more (not that we want to) That is what is a bit loopy - not that the option for it might exist. We would certainly consider moving, almost a definite, if we had that safety net. If we don't,we certainly, 100%, will not consider emigrating to find careers.

Having a home is one of the most basic things, wants, in life. Everything else can work itself around that. Many get a job to buy a home, luckily we have a home but we don't have jobs. We won't risk losing what is now our home even if that means remaining unemployed.

mp22

Time to close the door on this thread.

Closed