New Report Likely to Cause Deep Concern for Council Tennants

[General Urko]

New Report Likely to Cause Deep Concern for Council Tenants

A report has just been published which is being described as 'Radical', relating to council rents, the sale of council housing and the transfer of tenancy!

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/radical-report-shows-pathway-to-avoiding-future-crises-while-providing-housing-for-those-in-need-37082784.html

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/tenant-purchase-scheme-must-end-to-meet-social-housing-demands-1.3553443


Essentially, it's calling for a massive hike in rents, an end to the possibility of council tenants buying their homes and stopping adult sons and daughters inheriting the tenancy! This is with a view to increasing funds available to provide low cost quality social housing!

Let me start -

1 Rents are related to wages as it is, what are people on low wages to do if their rents are sent through the roof?
Although, I suggest that childrens' allowance be factored in income calculations!

2 Stopping selling off council houses, well the last scheme which AFAIK was done under the auspices of the lovely minister Kelly was a complete disaster with virtually no take up.
What appeared to be happening under it was along with having to pay water charges as a precondition, the house prices in some areas were being set at the levels of nearby private houses, so even with the discounts available, it pitched them at totally unrealistic and laughable levels.

3. Preventing the transfer of tenancy to sons and daughters living in the house, well that will cause immense disruption to peoples' lives and leave them homeless possibly! Indeed high rents in relative terms being charged to council tenants may be as a consequence of the wages being paid to those sons and daughters.

4 Given the track record of public bodies wasting money, what makes anybody realistically believe that money gained from massively hiked rents will go in to more public housing?

5 Sleemheen employers, particularly in the BMW Region, where they are the norm, are in part enabled to ride the holes of their employees red raw because their Irish staff in council housing have low housing costs!

Perhaps, councils should be addressing anti social behaviour issues in areas where they are landlords and maintaining council properties!
Also wages and salaries and perks and pensions for their pen pusher staff need to be at realistic levels! Essentially the pensions paid to these 'public servants' are often beyond what should be the going rate for actually doing the job in the first place!

Now finally as with any report, it's worth noting who has compiled it! The Indo tells us it's no right wing think tank, no!
The 2 main people behind it are -

Professor Michelle Norris, a UCD academic and chairperson of the housing finance agency - a public servant on a large salary and with the prospect of a huge pension.

Aideen Hughes, a former Labour Party Senator, by Taoiseach's Nomination after failing to be elected through the panel system in 2011 and failing to be re-elected in 2016. She is now chairperson of Treshold!
BTW how are The lovely Labour Party perceived these days in working class areas?

 

[Gin Soaked]

The rent cap is very low for council houses. And that's fine if the income in the house is low. But that needs to be checked..

You don't own a council house. You rent it. So why should you be able to inherit a tenancy. There needs to be rules around this.

Accept that we need to house people in a dignified way and that many workers are priced out of Dublin. But we need to be smart about how state assets are used.

 

[General Urko]

The rent cap is very low for council houses. And that's fine if the income in the house is low. But that needs to be checked..

You don't own a council house. You rent it. So why should you be able to inherit a tenancy. There needs to be rules around this.

Accept that we need to house people in a dignified way and that many workers are priced out of Dublin. But we need to be smart about how state assets are used.

If you have lived in that council home for most of your life and are on a relatively low income, which has perhaps formed the bulk of the basis for the rent charge, why shouldn't you be entitled to continue to live there? What's the alternative - fúck you out on to the side of the road?

 

[General Urko]

The rent calculation is slightly more than a 1/5 of your income plus 1/4 of the income of all other adults in the house! You are also responsible for all maintenance, unlike any other tenancy!
And you will be very often living in an area with loads of anti social behaviour issues!

 

[Spanner Island]

Hmmmm.... people on dirt cheap rents and then buying their houses at hugely reduced prices from the state which in turn depletes the housing stock of the state...

Something not right about that.

If they can afford to buy at all that's an issue imo.

People who are subsidised to such an extent by everyone else should never be in a position to buy properties which should never be sold anyway.

 

[stopdoingstuff]

I suppose they want to make room for immigrants.

 

[hammer]

It was funded by the Community Foundation of Ireland, an organisation which professes to "advocate a fair, caring and thriving Ireland", and co-authored by chair of national housing charity Threshold, Aideen Hayden, and UCD academic and chair of the Housing Finance Agency, Professor Michelle Norris.

Both are highly respected housing experts, committed to ensuring that people have access to secure, affordable and high-quality homes. So when they suggest that local authority rents are too low, that councils should cease selling their stock and a new funding model be developed for the sector, they're worth listening to.

Excellent.

About time someone looked at all of this.

Heard about being able to buy at 60% discount to market value : Scandalous.

 

[Spanner Island]

I suppose they want to make room for immigrants.

Well if it's a choice between the likes of you or immigrants I'll take the immigrants every time.

 

[General Urko]

I think there is an agenda being pushed now to make this daftness acceptable!
And you have to set it against the inevitability that prices of food and drink are going to be pushed through the roof with the big B on the way and sugar taxes and minimum drink prices, the latter in a country where drink prices are already just about the highest in Europe!
It will just become increasingly impossible for regular Irish People to live in this complete Shytehole!
If The Shinners are in Government, it will be one of the tests of their credentials along with bringing forth legislation to stop worker abuse - zero hour contacts, employing people through agencies without any responsibility on their actual employer's behalf etc. and I'm fairly sure they will fail spectacularly!

 

[gerhard dengler]

A report has just been published which is being described as 'Radical', relating to council rents, the sale of council housing and the transfer of tenancy!

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/radical-report-shows-pathway-to-avoiding-future-crises-while-providing-housing-for-those-in-need-37082784.html

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/tenant-purchase-scheme-must-end-to-meet-social-housing-demands-1.3553443


Essentially, it's calling for a massive hike in rents, an end to the possibility of council tenants buying their homes and stopping adult sons and daughters inheriting the tenancy! This is with a view to increasing funds available to provide low cost quality social housing!

Let me start -

1 Rents are related to wages as it is, what are people on low wages to do if their rents are sent through the roof?
Although, I suggest that childrens' allowance be factored in income calculations!

2 Stopping selling off council houses, well the last scheme which AFAIK was done under the auspices of the lovely minister Kelly was a complete disaster with virtually no take up.
What appeared to be happening under it was along with having to pay water charges as a precondition, the house prices in some areas were being set at the levels of nearby private houses, so even with the discounts available, it pitched them at totally unrealistic and laughable levels.

3. Preventing the transfer of tenancy to sons and daughters living in the house, well that will cause immense disruption to peoples' lives and leave them homeless possibly! Indeed high rents in relative terms being charged to council tenants may be as a consequence of the wages being paid to those sons and daughters.

4 Given the track record of public bodies wasting money, what makes anybody realistically believe that money gained from massively hiked rents will go in to more public housing?

5 Sleemheen employers, particularly in the BMW Region, where they are the norm, are in part enabled to ride the holes of their employees red raw because their Irish staff in council housing have low housing costs!

Perhaps, councils should be addressing anti social behaviour issues in areas where they are landlords and maintaining council properties!
Also wages and salaries and perks and pensions for their pen pusher staff need to be at realistic levels! Essentially the pensions paid to these 'public servants' are often beyond what should be the going rate for actually doing the job in the first place!

Now finally as with any report, it's worth noting who has compiled it! The Indo tells us it's no right wing think tank, no!
The 2 main people behind it are -

Professor Michelle Norris, a UCD academic and chairperson of the housing finance agency - a public servant on a large salary and with the prospect of a huge pension.

Aideen Hughes, a former Labour Party Senator, by Taoiseach's Nomination after failing to be elected through the panel system in 2011 and failing to be re-elected in 2016. She is now chairperson of Treshold!
BTW how are The lovely Labour Party perceived these days in working class areas?

Let's be clear here, there are far too many people - tenants and landlords - having tenancies funded from the public purse.
Far too many tenancies.

In many of the cases of tenancies in properties owned outright by the state, there are huge levels of "mortgage" arrears. In other words tenants in these properties are behind in their rent payments.



https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/councils-owed-over-400m-in-unpaid-rents-loans-and-rates-36765225.html

 

[General Urko]

Hmmmm.... people on dirt cheap rents and then buying their houses at hugely reduced prices from the state which in turn depletes the housing stock of the state...

Something not right about that.

If they can afford to buy at all that's an issue imo.

People who are subsidised to such an extent by everyone else should never be in a position to buy properties which should never be sold anyway.

But they are not, AFAIK the last tenant purchase scheme as I outlined in the OP was a complete disaster! Would anybody in their right mind pay the market value of a private house less 30% for a council house in a nearby area with massive anti social behaviour issues?

 

[General Urko]

It was funded by the Community Foundation of Ireland, an organisation which professes to "advocate a fair, caring and thriving Ireland", and co-authored by chair of national housing charity Threshold, Aideen Hayden, and UCD academic and chair of the Housing Finance Agency, Professor Michelle Norris.

Both are highly respected housing experts, committed to ensuring that people have access to secure, affordable and high-quality homes. So when they suggest that local authority rents are too low, that councils should cease selling their stock and a new funding model be developed for the sector, they're worth listening to.

Excellent.

About time someone looked at all of this.

Heard about being able to buy at 60% discount to market value : Scandalous.

30% max, AFAIK and even then nobody took up these incredible offers!

 

[Cabbage/Turnip]

The rent calculation is slightly more than a 1/5 of your income plus 1/4 of the income of all other adults in the house! You are also responsible for all maintenance, unlike any other tenancy!
And you will be very often living in an area with loads of anti social behaviour issues!

Maybe if they were made pay decent rents instead of getting a massive bargain compare to private renters they might have less money to get polluated and cause anti social behaviour

 

[Trainwreck]

A report has just been published which is being described as 'Radical', relating to council rents, the sale of council housing and the transfer of tenancy!

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/radical-report-shows-pathway-to-avoiding-future-crises-while-providing-housing-for-those-in-need-37082784.html

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/tenant-purchase-scheme-must-end-to-meet-social-housing-demands-1.3553443


Essentially, it's calling for a massive hike in rents, an end to the possibility of council tenants buying their homes and stopping adult sons and daughters inheriting the tenancy! This is with a view to increasing funds available to provide low cost quality social housing!

Let me start -

1 Rents are related to wages as it is, what are people on low wages to do if their rents are sent through the roof?
Although, I suggest that childrens' allowance be factored in income calculations!

2 Stopping selling off council houses, well the last scheme which AFAIK was done under the auspices of the lovely minister Kelly was a complete disaster with virtually no take up.
What appeared to be happening under it was along with having to pay water charges as a precondition, the house prices in some areas were being set at the levels of nearby private houses, so even with the discounts available, it pitched them at totally unrealistic and laughable levels.

3. Preventing the transfer of tenancy to sons and daughters living in the house, well that will cause immense disruption to peoples' lives and leave them homeless possibly! Indeed high rents in relative terms being charged to council tenants may be as a consequence of the wages being paid to those sons and daughters.

4 Given the track record of public bodies wasting money, what makes anybody realistically believe that money gained from massively hiked rents will go in to more public housing?

5 Sleemheen employers, particularly in the BMW Region, where they are the norm, are in part enabled to ride the holes of their employees red raw because their Irish staff in council housing have low housing costs!

Perhaps, councils should be addressing anti social behaviour issues in areas where they are landlords and maintaining council properties!
Also wages and salaries and perks and pensions for their pen pusher staff need to be at realistic levels! Essentially the pensions paid to these 'public servants' are often beyond what should be the going rate for actually doing the job in the first place!

Now finally as with any report, it's worth noting who has compiled it! The Indo tells us it's no right wing think tank, no!
The 2 main people behind it are -

Professor Michelle Norris, a UCD academic and chairperson of the housing finance agency - a public servant on a large salary and with the prospect of a huge pension.

Aideen Hughes, a former Labour Party Senator, by Taoiseach's Nomination after failing to be elected through the panel system in 2011 and failing to be re-elected in 2016. She is now chairperson of Treshold!
BTW how are The lovely Labour Party perceived these days in working class areas?

Anyone who thinks this is a sensible:

adult sons and daughters inheriting the tenancy!

Is a moron.

 

[General Urko]

It was funded by the Community Foundation of Ireland, an organisation which professes to "advocate a fair, caring and thriving Ireland", and co-authored by chair of national housing charity Threshold, Aideen Hayden, and UCD academic and chair of the Housing Finance Agency, Professor Michelle Norris.

Both are highly respected housing experts, committed to ensuring that people have access to secure, affordable and high-quality homes. So when they suggest that local authority rents are too low, that councils should cease selling their stock and a new funding model be developed for the sector, they're worth listening to.

Excellent.

About time someone looked at all of this.

Heard about being able to buy at 60% discount to market value : Scandalous.

What is this organization? Is it Government funded? Is there a particular agenda being pushed?
How can you possibly ensure societal fairness and justice by screwing the poorest people, tell me how?
It's complete and utter bull shyza and dangerous bull shyza at that!
Would such a policy lead to more poverty or less, would it lead to more hard drug addiction and alcoholism or less?
Would it make sleemheen scumbag employers increase wages and provide better working conditions?
I think not!

 

[General Urko]

Anyone who thinks this is a sensible:



Is a moron.

But they can only inherit if they are living there at the time. Get it now, pseudo?:roll:

 

[General Urko]

Maybe if they were made pay decent rents instead of getting a massive bargain compare to private renters they might have less money to get polluated and cause anti social behaviour

That's not the way the real world works! Well Paddyland, any way!

 

[hammer]

and co-authored by chair of national housing charity Threshold

Well if they are saying it...........

 

[General Urko]

and co-authored by chair of national housing charity Threshold

Well if they are saying it...........

And?

 

[SeanieFitz]

Hmmmm.... people on dirt cheap rents and then buying their houses at hugely reduced prices from the state which in turn depletes the housing stock of the state...

Something not right about that.

If they can afford to buy at all that's an issue imo.

People who are subsidised to such an extent by everyone else should never be in a position to buy properties which should never be sold anyway.

Talk to people who work in the sector, they will enlighten you

it is widely acccepted that local authority/social housing estates which include former tenants who have purchased their properties have much less anti social behaviour, much less littering/vandalism, higher sense of "community" and lower unemployment levels. Basically it is good for the community to have a mix of owner occupiers/renters

the only policy i would like to see implemented is where a former tenant purchased their house, they would have to refund some of the "discount" if they subsequently sold it for a profit. that would have to be a reducing scale of penalty over a few years of course

Estates with owner occupiers are nicer places to live in, for everyone.