Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Social Housing Issue

  • 22-03-2022 11:34pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 2,734 ✭✭✭


    My daughter and her husband bought a new build in an estate last year. A lovely quiet estate with lots of young couples and families in the area. By and large everyone gets on well and it’s very peaceful the majority of the time.

    One house is a problem however and it’s a social house. Some of the problems experienced are: drug raids by the guards (drugs found on the property), messy garden, occupier let’s her children run wild and do what they want, dodgy people arriving up to the house at all hours of the day. The list is endless.

    Now, the house was raided and drugs were found. Why is this person still in the house? Surely the council need to be notified by the guards if criminal activity is going on? From what I’m led to believe, a court case is pending. What can be done to remove this person and her children from the house? My daughter has spoken to several neighbours who want this person out of the estate for obvious reasons but everyone is too afraid to go on record or have their anonymity compromised.

    Can the council be notified anonymously? My daughter and her husband have three small children and are often afraid of letting them out into the garden. They are also embarrassed to have people over in case another drug deal is witnessed in broad daylight. People, not just my daughter, who have worked so hard to put themselves in a position to purchase their first home deserve better. Decent people who might have missed out on a house so this criminal could benefit also deserve better.

    What can be done?

    Post edited by L1011 on


«1345

Comments

  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    I feel sorry for your daughter's situation. I'm afraid I don't know the answer but I hope you can find a resolution.



  • Registered Users Posts: 25,594 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    So where do you think the drug dealing / using family will go to?

    Even if the courts would let the council evict them (unlikely) - WHERE exactly to you think the family will go?

    I know your answer will be "I don't care", but that's missing the point. They have to go somewhere, into some estate. They will not just conveniently all drop dead.

    Council housing is pretty much the end of the line for most people. It sucks when nice people get troublesome ones in their estate. But the other option is huge anti-social estates where problem just get worse.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,734 ✭✭✭Motivator


    There are 3 other social housing units on their road and the families are lovely people. One of them looked after my daughters dog a few months ago and they’ve had my daughter up for BBQs etc. I don’t like people being tarred with the same brush and that’s not what’s happening here.

    I don’t care where the troublemakers go, that’s not my concern at all. My concern is my daughter and her family and it’s the same for all of the neighbours. The occupants should all be thrown out, there are rules they need to abide by in order to get the house in the first place. I’m fairly sure drug dealing is a big no-no. I think the council need to act. The council are landlords and the occupier has broken the law. In any other situation they’d be out on their arse. It’s not anyones fault that this crowd are/we’re dealing drugs only themselves and there should be consequences.



  • Registered Users Posts: 8,344 ✭✭✭Ray Palmer


    I think you missed the point there. The council are obliged to house this family even if they are drug dealers. From the councils view, moving them doesn't solve the problem they have so what is there to change? The judge will also be aware of that although I think you might be mixing up some legal stuff here. You are also mistaken in the belief that they would be out on their ear in any other situation.

    Similar situation happened to me. The flat was raided 3 times. They found something the 3rd time apparently but it was a very small amount. I couldn't kick him out as there were no anti social issues reported. In fairness he wasn't a bother at all. They dropped the charges against him. No legal recourse for me to evict him.

    You mention that they raided and drugs were found. What type and quantity is relevant, one spliff could be what happened. The council certainly don't evict everyone that commits a crime.

    In my case it actually turned out to be a neighbour that didn't like the tenant claiming they were a drug dealer. There were some visitors calling a lot because the guy was selling his video games.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,622 ✭✭✭Deeec


    Its a really terrible situation for your daughter and her family. I think its disgraceful that a couple work hard to pay for a nice house and then have scum living near them like this ( paying relatively nothing for a nice house). Unfortunately the council wont care so there is no point complaining to them - they've housed this family and more than likely knew this family would be a problem. Evicting them would just give the council further problems trying to house them somewhere else.

    Sadly the only option for your daughter may be to put up with this behaviour or sell up.



  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 2,575 ✭✭✭endofrainbow


    From a legal point of view, until the individual is found guilty in a court of law, surely the Council's hands are tied?

    A horrible position for your daughter to be in though.



  • Registered Users Posts: 5,368 ✭✭✭JimmyVik


    This is what happens when you get one bad family in an estate. It just takes one.

    Nothing will be done and it will just get worse. What you will get though are the other council tenants will complain and get to move somewhere else. Then people just as bad as these guys will be the ones to move into the empty council house.

    If I were your family i would sell right now and find somewhere nicer.

    Of course you will have all the bleeding hearts on here telling you that even private neighbors can be bad. But the reality is its almost always social tenants who ruin an area.

    One family turned the whole estate I grew up in into a no go area eventually. I really feel for your family.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Selling up might be the best approach. The state doesn't appear to be interested in serving the median citizens of Ireland. Quite the opposite is true, it seems.



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,991 ✭✭✭Caranica


    Contact their local TD/Senator. I would frame it along the lines of "it has recently come to light that these are tenants of the council" rather than going in all guns blazing about the fact that they are social housing tenants. The politician can make representations without revealing their names if asked to.



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,226 ✭✭✭cgcsb


    Tbh, it sounds relatively minor. What have they actually done to your daughter, or anyone? Having a messy garden and embarrassing her, I get but like have you ever had to live in a 100% social housing estate? This sounds very mild in terms of impact in her actual life.



  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 367 ✭✭OneLungDavy


    Find out who is over the local housing scheme in the council and write to them, get everyone in the estate to do the same. Our estate done this when we heard one of the country's biggest scumbags was about to move in, it was successfully vetoed.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    When spending a six figure sum on a property, I don't think anyone would choose to live next to a socially housed drug dealer.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,734 ✭✭✭Motivator


    Travellers and scum of the earth arriving up to the house at all hours of the night, kids running wild, garden a mess etc. is not relatively minor when people have spent hundreds of thousands on their house. This crowd moved in to a free house and do what they want. They rely on other neighbours to cut their front lawn because if they leave it go long enough others will get pissed off and do it for them.

    It’s an awful lot of small things topped off with the fact they were caught dealing drugs out of the house. The fact that apparently nothing can be done is, if true, total nonsense.



  • Registered Users Posts: 13,979 ✭✭✭✭Cuddlesworth


    It's not that nothing can be done, its that there is zero motivation or reason to move them on.

    If you worked in the housing section of the local authority and "decided" to do something, you go through what I assume is a metric ton of red tape including getting funding for the cost to evict, you get the solicitors involved, go through the obnoxiously long eviction process in Ireland in our court system, hope to god the judge actually grants the eviction order and finally get the Sheriff out to toss them.

    Great work right? Less then a hour later the same tenant is at the door to your office homeless and your obliged to house them and start it all again.


    Your daughter should just move, it's the one thing she really has control over.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,734 ✭✭✭Motivator


    Sell a house her and her husband spent years saving for? To go where? Maybe they should try and con the system and end up getting a free one.



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,226 ✭✭✭cgcsb


    TBH sounds minor. Main issue is that she's annoyed that she over-paid for the property and the person has an overgrown lawn. I grew up in an area where this was rampant and really impactful, not just one household. My parents neighbour, in the house I grew up in, is still selling drugs openly but the gardaí don't wanna know and tbh they don't hassle us they just buy their drugs and leave. About a third of the houses were full of scum, but we all got on with it as long as they didn't give us hassle. We have a lot of hassle with wild kids, not one or two but dozens and sometimes hundreds, your situation sounds quiet enough.



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,226 ✭✭✭cgcsb


    Every house in Dublin is at least six figures in price. Nobody choses it but these are social problems we have unfortunately. Irish society isn't prepared to tackle those issues so they'll continue for the foreseeable.

    International experience shows that housing first is the best solution but obviously people who have major issue living near junkies aren't going to support such policies.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    But if it's "minor" you would choose to do it, no? It's only "minor".



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,734 ✭✭✭Motivator


    Overpaid? What are you talking about? Nobody mentioned anything about overpaying for a house. If you think that’s the main issue here then you’ve missed the point.

    More worrying is you seem to be just shrugging your shoulders as if this is normal behaviour, which of course it isn’t.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,862 ✭✭✭Dr Turk Turkelton


    Tbh it's not really a minor issue. Some people don't want to live in a sh1thole or bring their children up in said sh1thole as they have more pride in themselves.

    This person's poor daughter worked hard to buy her house and these useless fcuks just get their extremely subsidised house for nothing only not getting a job and firing out a few kids.

    It's disgraceful that normal people have to suck it up that drug dealing scum get housed beside them in this country.



  • Advertisement
  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Regional East Moderators, Regional North West Moderators Posts: 11,918 Mod ✭✭✭✭miamee


    You think it's ok because it is what you are used to, you have become accustomed to it. Most people do not think it's fine to have anti-social or drug dealing neighbours, far from it. A peaceful life getting on with your neighbours is all most people want when they have scrimped and saved for years for a deposit for a house. It shouldn't be too much to ask.

    OP I have had disruptive neighbours and I know the stress it can put on you. Even when they are not up to anything you are wondering when it will all kick off again. We moved (not just for that reason though that gave us a push). I hope your daughter's situation will resolve itself sooner rather than later.



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,226 ✭✭✭cgcsb


    Just to restate, I don't think it's 'okay' just that it's a fairly minor grievance. There are WAYY worse anti social behaviour issues out there. Yes it's terrible that we have to tolerate such things but that's the cost of a country not dealing with it's social issues unfortunately. Just because you could afford a certain house doesn't actually mean that you have more rights. If you were poor and had disruptive neighbours, that would be equally unfortunate.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    It's not equal, due to the massive monetary difference. Investing everything you have in a house is different to getting a heavily subsidized house that cost you next to nothing.

    You can pretend that money doesn't matter all you like. But you'd still be wrong.

    The bigger tragedy is for those who pay, not just for the house, but through the significant taxes paid to subsidize these people.

    As is always the case in this country, the hard working lose.



  • Registered Users Posts: 575 ✭✭✭CrookedJack


    Honestly I agree with this, things could be much worse than the garden being overgrown, one would have to have lived quite a sheltered life not to realise this.

    I also think everyone pointing out that the family is "getting the house for free" is showing what the real issue is here.

    I mean come on OP, really, how is this family actively affecting your daughter? Apart from perceived unfairness of the system and unhappiness at how long the grass is and that they deal drugs I can't see how she is affected at all?

    Post edited by CrookedJack on


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,622 ✭✭✭Deeec


    Really I think you need to take a look at yourself if you think drug dealing and the people it attracts is ok.

    Not many people would be happy to be living beside this with their kids.



  • Registered Users Posts: 575 ✭✭✭CrookedJack


    I think you need to re-read what I said, you didn't understand it.

    Also what makes you think she is beside this family? In fact, we don't even know they are drug dealers.

    You haven't said how it actually affects the daughter yet. Outrage aside, there's no actual problem. Her property hasn't been vandalised, her kids haven't been assaulted, her car hasn't been stolen, she's not being kept awake at night by loud parties, etc. How is it actually affecting her?



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,622 ✭✭✭Deeec




  • Registered Users Posts: 791 ✭✭✭CreadanLady


    OP you are getting carried away. Sure, it is unfortunate and unpleasant for your daughter but at the end of the day the Council cannot simply throw a mother and her children out onto the street, no landlord can. And least of all a council who are a housing authority whose duty it is to house those who can otherwise not provide their own housing.

    You need to have a little perspective here and take notice of what is realistic and what is an emotion flight of fancy.

    If one thing is certain, the Council absolutely will not evict a mother and children onto the street, regardless of what the mother has done. The only way that could be done is with a Court order and that is most unlikely to come about in anything but the most intractable, repeated cases of extreme antisocial behaviour that have not responded to multiple interventions from multiple agencies. The court will have the best interests of the children at the forefront, not the interests of a nearby outraged neighbour.

    The best case scenario here is that, if things get bad enough, and they would have to be very very bad, the council could, after enough time with enough pressure from residents and garda intervention, move the family to another social house, at which point the family become the problem of the next group of neighbours.

    You can complain to the council housing department alright, get a petition if you want. No need to do so anonymously. The council are not going to go out blabbing that "oh Motivator was complaining about your behaviour...."

    And if you want to take it on from the criminal and garda intervention side, there is no anonymity there. If you want make allegations, then the fact is if you want it progressed you need to be prepared to make a statement and give testimony in open court. And if you are not prepared to do that, well, it obviously doesn't bother you to the point where you are willing to make such effots.

    I tell you, things could be a lot worse than a young mother doing a bit of drug dealing and a occasional visits from the Gardai. I lived in an estate that was run by a gang and a man was shot stone dead in the street just a few doors away in broad daylight.

    Might I ask how this is directly affecting your daughter? Maybe if she kept her nose in her own business it might not bother her so much.

    The MFV Creadan Lady is a mussel dredger from Dunmore East.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]




  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 575 ✭✭✭CrookedJack


    Hence my referring to "the daughter" rather than "your daughter". Again you misunderstand.



This discussion has been closed.
Advertisement