Council dealing with more than 100 people who have Notices to Quit

Westmeath County Council are currently dealing with 107 validated Notices to Quit (NTQs), the council’s director of housing has confirmed.

Ambrose Clarke provided the figure following a question from Cllr Mick Dollard about the number of tenants facing notices to quit across the county.

Mr Clarke said there were actually 154 notices with the council, but not all had yet been validated.

The validated cases are currently being dealt with by housing staff.

The issue was raised during a wider discussion on the pressure facing households seeking accommodation and the availability of alternative housing.

Cllr Ken Glynn said that when people receive notices to quit they are advised to seek alternative accommodation and are also referred towards Housing Assistance Payment supports.

However, he said HAP rates were significantly out of line with current rents and were often insufficient to enable people to secure alternative accommodation.

He said some people were being asked to find between €1,000 and €1,200 in rent even with HAP support.

Mr Clarke said government were conducting a national review of HAP, which was expected to feed in to the national Budget process for 2027.

He said Westmeath County Council would seek to review their HAP rates once the national process was complete.

Supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme