Cllr Ken Glynn is critical of the decision to end the eviction ban.

Housing: council just can’t cope, says Glynn

The housing crisis is the biggest issue facing families and the decision to lift the ban on evictions is currently the greatest challenge facing the council, according to one local Fianna Fáil councillor.

Mullingar alone will experience up to 60 evictions after 31 March – which will add a significant number of families to the homeless list.

Cllr Ken Glynn said his clinics are full most Mondays and concerns about notices to quit homes is the biggest concern among his constituents.

“They [the notices to quit] have been continuously rising for the past 12 months. The council is over-run in terms of the numbers that are coming at them,” said Cllr Glynn.

“The council can’t cope; there is anxiety and stress where people have six months notice to quit, for example, and there is nothing for them. It’s a shocking situation.”

As the notice to quit crisis takes hold, the cost of renting a three-bedroom apartment in Mullingar is currently €1,600 per month, said the Mullingar councillor.

Cllr Glynn criticised the government’s decision, and that of his own party, to end the ban on evictions, and said it will cause further distress.

“I don’t agree with it: as someone who is dealing with the housing crisis on the ground – while I understand what the government is trying to do – the reality is they should give an incentive to those landlords who are trying to sell their houses, but this decision is definitely going to increase anxiety, and pressure on the council,” he said.

“A day does not go by when I don’t have people contacting me with a notice to quit, which can cause severe anxiety for them and their family. It’s terrible to be taking that call, or sitting on the other side of the desk listening to the problem and feeling so helpless.”

Cllr Mick Dollard described the housing crisis as “a nightmare” and said the decision to lift the ban on evictions is a knee-jerk reaction that will lead to massive problems locally after March 31.

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“It’s a major problem in people’s lives; I’m acutely aware of it because I hear it every day. Young women, in particular, are at their wits end over homelessness and the threat of eviction is now hanging over many families,” he said.

“The eviction ban gave families five months of hope, but now their hopes have been dashed.”

Cllr Dollard said more houses have to be built; bureaucracy in the department of housing needs to be tackled; and Westmeath County Council have to act faster where families are being made homeless, he added.

Successive governments have failed to deal with the issue, Cllr Glynn said, citing rising rent costs as a major issue and calling for an increase in HAP (Housing Assistance Payment) rates.

“HAP has not been increased since day one and Minister Darragh O’Brien assured me on a visit to Mullingar that he is reviewing the situation – however, the problem is rents are increasing all the time,” he said.

HAP will fund just €650 of the €1,600 rent being sought for three-bedroom apartments in Mullingar, and while there is a fee of €60 to the council, tenants have to pay the balance.

The high cost of rent is the main reason people are falling into arrears and that is leading to the inevitable notice to quit.

Previously, only people on incomes of up to €27,500 could qualify for HAP, but that threshold has been increased to €37,500, which is more realistic, but is still not going far enough, Cllr Glynn feels.

The Westmeath Examiner asked the local authority on February 23 for confirmation on the number of social houses to be built this year, but at the time of going to press, no information was made available. Neither could it be confirmed how many homeless people there are at present in the county.

There are houses being built at a number of different areas in Mullingar, including the Ballymahon Road, Ashe Road, Springfield, D’Alton Park and Ennell Court, demand is growing.

Cllr Dollard said he has been raising the issue for many years, but no one listened and efforts to get the local authority to purchase housing stock frequently fell through due to bureaucracy.

“In 2013, a two-bedroom apartment could be purchased in Mullingar for €50,000. Now they are treble that price. The council didn’t act fast enough. Since the Celtic Tiger emigrated, there has been a housing problem,” he said.