Local authority tenants ‘must look after their house’

If someone gets a council house, they should be made to look after it. This was the sentiment expressed by Cllr Philip Brady (FF) after he brought forward a motion on the matter during the May meeting of Cavan County Council. He asked that the local authority submit a request to the Department of Housing and Local Government for a review of the Housing Act 2014 insofar as it relates to dealing with antisocial behaviour with particular reference to be made to expediting the legal process around the recovery of possession of dwellings for breach of tenancy.

“Drugs and loud parties are all part of the problem these days,” added Cllr Brady before Cllr Patricia Walsh (FF) stated: “We are the landlords of local authority housing and we need to take action on this.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Sarah O’Reilly (Aontú) pointed to a number of local authority housing matters that she has come across, mostly involving “dogs barking inside a house all day”.

“There is one particular issue in a local authority house that is part of a private estate,” she continued before adding that people who purchased their own homes “should be protected” from what’s going on.

“The message should be loud and clear: If you act up in the house, you will lose your tenancy.”

Cllr Peter McVitty (FG) told those gathered that the matter had been raised “time and time again”. “The reality is that it only takes one to destroy an entire estate and give it a bad name. We need to have someone who goes around to the houses a few times a year to check if everything is as it should be.”

Sinn Féin’s Cllr Paddy McDonald also rowed in on the discussion. He said part of the problem was that tenants in “some of those houses” know they can’t be put out and so “continue to do what they want”.

“We need to start doing something about that,” he insisted.

In response, Lynda McGavigan, acting Director of Services with Cavan County Council, said the local authority employed one tenant liaison officer in each of the three municipal districts. “They do fantastic work and their focus is to work with tenants to resolve the issues,” she continued. “They also work with the environment section of Cavan County Council and with the dog warden with regard to dog barking issues.”

Concluding the discussion, Ms McGavigan also highlighted the fact that just one case required legal action, while all other matters were dealt with through the liaison officers.