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A fifth of council housing offers snubbed

Thursday, 12 June 2008

FINGAL residents on the council housing list are turning their noses up at offers of accommodation in some estates in Dublin 15 according to housing officials.
Almost one in five offers are rejected and the high refusal rate is to blame for houses being left boarded up for several months.
There are currently 37 boarded up units in council estates such as Parslickstown, Sheepmoor and Castlecurragh.
Council figures reveal that there are nine boarded up houses in the Wellview estate, six in Corduff and five in Fortlawn.
These figures come at a time when there are 2,763 applications for social housing in the Dublin 15 area.
According to council officials repairs need to be carried out on a number of premises before they are re-let to tenants.
“However, the high refusal rate of offers of accommodation (19 per cent) is also a factor that must be taken into account with regard to the speed of allocation of vacant dwellings,” Fingal’s director of housing Richard Brady stated.
“The council’s policy regarding re-let properties is to ensure that vacant properties have been accepted by new tenants from their housing list in advance of such properties becoming available for re-let.”
The figures were released to Deputy Joan Burton (Lab) recently.

“The council must improve the turnaround time for social housing units,” she said.
“I understand that these boarded up houses are undergoing repairs and that there are plans to appoint an additional contractor to assist in the repairs.”
Deputy Burton added: “These measures are to be welcomed because, quite frankly, there is such an acute shortage of social housing that we cannot afford the luxury of having homes lying vacant.”
According to the Dublin West TD, the boarded up houses are having a negative effect on the local community.
“While these vacant houses are boarded up, they are a magnet for anti-social behaviour and an unsightly nuisance for neighbouring households.”
A breakdown of the figures revealed that at least 25 units have been sitting idle for more than six months.
Over one third of the number of boarded up homes have been vacant for between three and six months while another third of units have been laying empty for up to three months.
According to the Fingal housing director, half of those homes vacant for six months or longer require extensive repairs before they can be considered for re-letting.
“The council is doing everything possible to speed up the turnaround of these properties, but it is not feasible to offer any of these dwellings to prospective new tenants while in poor condition,” Mr Brady explained.
According to Fingal County Council’s figures, there are a total of over 80 vacant homes at present, while one in five offers of accommodation are refused.

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