Row over rents for council tenants

Westmeath County Council has 2,239 tenants, but the thresholds governing the rent they pay have not been amended since 2009, according to Cllr Paul Hogan.

The “differential rent scheme” determines what tenants pay, and it is based on their incomes. After deduction of a monthly income disregard figure, council tenants pay 22 per cent of their household income in rent.

At the March meeting of Westmeath County Council, Cllr Hogan asked that the council commit to increasing the income limit. The independent councillor was, however, left disappointed at the council reply, which stated that the proposal would be considered in the context of the 2025 budgetary process, pointing out that undertaking to ‘consider’ the proposal fell far short of ‘committing’.

“We agree programmes, we agree festivals, we agree different events, we agree projects and by ‘agreeing’ those, we make commitments that those projects and programmes and festivals etc, will be incorporated into the budget,” Cllr Hogan said. He said since the disregard thresholds of €70 for a single person and €110 for a couple were agreed in 2009, the council had undertaken many rent reviews, and latterly, an annual rent review, which had his full support. However the fact that there had been no increase in these thresholds for the last 15 years, despite increases in the rent, was, he said, “very unfair” on the council’s tenants.

“For example,” he said, “the €12 increase in welfare payments last year was effectively usurped by our differential rent scheme, in terms of this being seen as additional income. So here we have one arm of the state recognising that yes, we have a cost of living crisis; yes, we have an energy crisis: we will provide a €12 increase in people’s welfare – but on the other hand, another arm of the state will take it off them effectively,” he stated. Cllr Hogan said he also felt that this clause in the rent scheme was disproportionately affecting tenants who are actively engaged in employment – “and I certainly don’t want the narrative to go out that you’re better off not working”, he said.

By his calculations, a couple with four children would be paying an extra €340 per year in rent because the income thresholds had not been increased in line with inflation and for a single parent family with two children, the difference was €228.

Seconded

Cllr Ken Glynn seconded Cllr Hogan’s motion, claiming that if tenants get an increase in their incomes – whether that be their wages, their pension or social welfare – it will be wiped out by the next rent review. “The real reason people are on our housing list is because they are low income families – and low income families do not have the big bucks to pay the big rents,” he said.

Cllr Andrew Duncan also supported the motion: “One significant measure is that rents have doubled since 2009. So on that simple point alone, the motion should be supported,” he said.

Stating that the system is “inequitable”, Cllr Duncan said Cllr Hogan’s motion was one that needs to be dealt with now as opposed to ‘in the context of 2025’.

New councillor, Carol Okeke, who has replaced Green Party councillor, Hazel Smyth on the council, also supported Cllr Hogan’s motion, arguing that the static nature of the income thresholds could be seen as a disincentive to work: “It just feels like there’s no need for you to work because maybe if you’re not working, you get all the support,” she said.

Cllr Denis Leonard agreed with that point: “Work has to pay.

And the only way work can pay is for proper support for working people. And this is one motion that will support working people in their rents.”

He went on to say that he checked Daft.ie that day, and there was just one property to rent in Kinnegad – a two-bed for €1,950. Just a few years ago, he continued, rents in the town were €700-1,000. “It’s absolutely scandalous that we’ve built so few houses, that that’s what it’s come to. They talk about ‘a climate emergency’: we have a housing emergency, and an emergency needs to be dealt with by emergency measures. Not something a year down the line. I support this motion.”

SPC proposal

Cllr Mick Dollard felt Cllr Hogan’s motion was timely, and his proposal was that it be brought to the Housing SPC, to prepare a report in advance of budget estimates. He also queried the logic of having someone in a two-bedroom property pay the same differential rent as someone on the same income in a larger modern house with an air-to-water system that might cost €350,000 to buy.

The cathaoirleach, Cllr Liam McDaniel, also added his support to Cllr Hogan’s motion.

Executive

Responding, interim chief executive, Barry Kehoe, responded that deciding on the rent scheme is actually an executive responsibility, and in the view of the executive, it is a fair scheme: “The disregards are set out in the scheme, and the rent is 22% of the remaining income and in fairness, people have security of tenure in their house. It’s a reasonable rent, and it’s based on income – unlike the rents Cllr Leonard has mentioned that are subject to the market,” he stated.

It was, he added, incorrect to say that any increases tenants receive in income are wiped out by the scheme: “It has very little impact,” he said. “If they do get an increase in their income – because they get a raise at work or in their social welfare or whatever – all other things being equal, the impact is 22% of that, not the entirety of it. So they hold on to 78% of it.”

Mr Kehoe went on to say the council are undertaking to examining that in the context of the budget for 2025, with the new council that will then be in place.

However, after Cllr Hogan and Cllr Glynn supported Cllr Dollard’s SPC proposal, Mr Kehoe agreed the subject could be discussed at SPC level.