Concern expressed that rent arrears in Tipperary are 'fast approaching' €3 million

Arrears in rent owed by council tenants in Tipperary are “fast approaching” €3 million and this is a serious issue, a local politician has stated.

Cllr Michael Murphy told a meeting of Clonmel Borough District that some of the arrears owed to Tipperary County Council are going back a number of years.

He asked if court action was pending in many of these cases.

Deirdre Flannery, staff officer with Tipperary County Council, said that much of the rent arrears was due to tenants failing to declare an increase in their income, and that amount was backdated as a single figure. That was why the rent arrears total had increased so much.

She said the council was working with people to pay off rent arrears over the next few years, whether that was by paying an extra €10 or €20 a week.

Two or three tenants owed approximately €10,000.

The council had decided to work with people and give them a chance to pay off the arrears.

In the last 18 months the council had issued 48 tenancy warnings.

Two cases were scheduled to go to court but in both cases an agreement was reached before the cases were heard in court.
“We’re not putting people under pressure. We just want to give people a chance to pay arrears and it’s working well,” she stated.

Ms Flannery said that up to two years ago, Tipperary County Council had a collection rate of 97 percent, which was the second highest in the country.

She said the council’s minimum rent was €30, while the maximum ranged from €120-€140.

Rent was based on a calculation of 20 percent for the first €200 of the principal earner’s income. Reductions were also given for each child in a house.

Ms Flannery said that any changes in a tenant’s circumstances should be notified to the council, and this enabled the local authority to calculate increases or decreases in rent.

The council worked with people, and where payment of rent might cause hardship the council may agree to accept a lesser payment for a period of time.

All hardship cases had to be referred to MABS (Money Advice and Budgeting Service), who were experts in the field and were more than happy to work with tenants.

Tenancy warnings gave people two months to contact the council.

Ms Flannery said their doors are always open to meet tenants.

She told District Mayor Pat English that 70 hardship cases throughout the county had been dealt with in the past two years.
She told Cllr Siobhán Ambrose that rent reviews were carried out every two to three years.

Responding to a query from Cllr John FitzGerald, Ms Flannery said that if tenants were not engaging with the council or had broken an agreement to pay arrears, it would have an impact on any repairs that might need to be carried out to their property.

District Manager Sinead Carr said that Tipperary County Council had a 97 percent collection rate of rent until the most recent review was carried out.

She had every confidence that under Deirdre Flannery and her team, this collection rate would increase again.