Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown council owed almost €3.5m in rent arrears

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is owed almost €3.5 million in rent arrears, according to figures released by the Dublin local authority.

More than one-third of almost 5,000 tenants are in arrears, while the majority are more than 12 weeks behind.

There are 4,450 council residential properties in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area.

In addition, there are 400 families or individuals availing of the rental accommodation scheme, under which the council pays rent directly to private landlords and tenants pay top-ups to the council.

Almost 1,900 council tenants, along with 190 tenants in the scheme, are behind with their rent. Some 1,260 of these are in arrears of 12 weeks or more, owing more than €3.12 million between them.

Homeless

The figures also show 259 households presented to the local authority as homeless in the first six months of 2014.

Of these, 114 were offered advice and supports, including help with rent supplement eligibility, 84 were placed in temporary emergency accommodation, such as bed and breakfasts, and 20 households refused the emergency placement.

A further 40 households were told they were not eligible, mainly because they were deemed to be from outside the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area.

Numbers on the local authority’s social housing waiting list have continued to grow. At the end of August, there were 4,776 applicants, an increase of 140 in just eight weeks.

The council intends to build 53 homes as part of its housing capital programme. They are scheduled for completion between December 2015 and June 2016. A further 50 have planning approval but are awaiting funding approval and need to be updated to current building regulations.