Councillor wants crackdown on Mayo social housing tenants who do not live in their home
Castlebar councillor Donna Sheridan says tenants are leaving social houses empty despite paying rent
A MAYO councillor has called for a crack down on people who are given social housing but do not live in them and live elsewhere.
Fine Gael councillor Donna Sheridan told the monthly meeting of Castlebar Municipal that she knows of cases where tenants are paying rent in council houses in Castlebar but they are not living there.
The former Cathaoirleach of the municipal district said that no houses should be empty when so many people are in need of a home and called on Mayo County Council to address this issue.
“I am aware of properties where there is nobody living in it. They are paying rent but there is nobody living there and their neighbours know there is nobody living there,” she said.
“What is the policy and how do we deal with that? We need to be firm...what can we do as councillors to give you [management] more powers to act to bring properties back into use.
“Shame on anybody who has a social house and paying the rent and not living there with the numbers on the list. It is crazy what is going on. I have spoken to neighbours who know nobody living there,” she said.
Cllr Sheridan also called for tougher anti-social behaviour laws to evict people from housing after learning that one tenant was taking photos of young children and abusing animals in a Castlebar estate.
“The guards are aware of this and I think we need to look at our method of evicting people who are terrorising their neighbours in social housing estates and make it so robust that we can remove them. No children's photographs should be taken by men and shouldn't be in these situations.
“We will not tolerate that and do what it takes to get these people removed at speed from these houses because you cannot live like that,” she said.