Council advised to dedicate resources to recovery of outstanding home loan debts

HOUSING loan arrears owed to Offaly County Council amounted to €163,000 in 2021. 68% of those related to arrears outstanding in excess of two years and 44% related to 4 clients.

The figures are revealed in an audit of the council carried out by Local Government Auditor, Fiona Clancy, for the year ended December 31, 2021 and which was published recently.

The council was advised that while its bad debts provision appeared to be sufficient at the time, it was essential that the council dedicate resources to the recovery of those outstanding debts.

It also advised that long standing debts in respect of caravan loans should be cleared without delay.

The audit noted that collection yield in respect of housing loans increased from 75% in 2020 to 82% in 2021. This improvement was mainly attributable to the recovery of debt in respect of surrendered houses from the Department and MARPS (Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process).

Responding, the Chief Executive Officer Anna Marie Delaney said that, ''the collection rate of loans arrears has shown another steady improvement in 2021. The Council has dedicated resources to managing cases with long standing arrears, but there can be extenuating legal circumstances, which take time to resolve,'' she said.

Capital expenditure was €30.5m in 2021, of which housing amounted to €16.9m. This refers to the purchase and building of houses for Council stock and €4.4m paid to voluntary housing bodies to help provide further housing.