Longford County Council owed €800,000 in rent arrears

Almost 400 council tenants owe Longford County Council €800,000 in rent arrears, new figures show.

The six figure sum, which looks set to throw the spotlight on an ever increasing housing crisis, is contained in a newly published audit report from local authority spending watchdog the Local Government Auditor.

It found 369 accounts, or 15 per cent of the 2,559 tenancy agreements in place, were in arrears by more than three months.

The report revealed that while closing arrears for rents decreased by €39,000, there was still €800,000 owed to the local authority by the end of 2020.

The Local Government Auditor noted that while a drop of seven accounts in arrears greater than three months was welcome, significant hurdles had yet to be overcome.

“The Council has increased all collection rates in 2021,” the report highlighted.

“Nonetheless, maintaining collection yields at a reasonable level in the coming years will be a significant challenge.

“The closure of Lough Ree power station and inflationary pressures are immediate challenges.

“All efforts to maintain rates, rents and loans income and collection yields should continue.”

It was a cautionary sounding which was given further credence by comments attributed to chief executive Paddy Mahon (pictured).

He said the the earlier than expected closure of Lanesboro's ESB power station, the county's largest ratepayer, continued to pose a real and telling handicap to the county going forwards.

“The loss of any of this income could severely hamper the delivery of a range of services and supports currently provided by the Council to its citizens, up to andincluding swinging budget cuts, suspension of projects and potentially future job cuts in communities that have already borne the brunt of this accelerated decision.” The county council's most senior civil service official said the council's ability to withstand any repeated annual losses of revenue was all but exhausted, adding the onus now fell at the doors of Leinster House.

“In the current situation where Longford County Council has fully utilised its headroom in the increase of the LPT base rate by 15% and is severely curtailed in its ability to raise local funding, the imperative lies with central government to find a mechanism whereby Longford County Council is compensated for this severe loss of income,” he said.