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Council seeks more houses for its tenants

Launched a few years ago, the Government’s Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) is becoming more popular with the changes in the Irish property market.

Fingal County Council is now ramping up its involvement in the scheme and is currently advertising for more landlords to sign up for the scheme.

Under RAS, landlords rent their houses directly to the local authority for five years which it then allocates the house to a family on its housing waiting list. For landlords this means a guaranteed monthly income for five years – regardless of whether the house is vacant or not.

According to Rita Sheils of the council’s housing department, “this is proving to be a real plus for landlords. They have a guaranteed income and they also don’t have the hassle of having to advertise their property or to interview prospective tenants.

“The plus for tenants is that we can offer them good quality houses in good areas and as a result we have a constant stream of families available from our housing waiting lists, she said.

While some landlords may worry about the possibility of problem tenants under the scheme Rita says this is not the case. “I say to prospective landlords that there is always going to be a risk with letting a house, be it to a group of five nurses or to a family off the housing list. In addition we have the experience and the resources to properly vet prospective tenants – something that most landlords don’t have.

“We have about 420 properties in the county on our books at present” said Rita “and we have no problems with anti-social behaviour. The percentage of problems per capita among these tenants is less than in local authority estates. Basically they know that if they become involved in anti-social behaviour and are evicted they will not be housed elsewhere.

“We do checks on all prospective tenants regarding anti social-behaviour. We have a good relationship with the gardaí,” she said.

To be eligible for housing under the scheme, tenants must be in need of long term housing and in receipt of rent support for at least 18 months. The scheme is attractive to tenants according to Rita. “The rent supplement scheme is often seen as a disincentive to work as people receiving supplement cannot earn more than a certain amount. However under RAS they can look for full time employment without being penalised and their rent is limited to 11% of their income.”

One other plus for landlords is that if they rent their house to the county council they are exempt from paying the NPPR annual charge of €200 introduced by the Government last year.

While landlords enter into a five year contract with the council “there is a discretionary get out clause where landlord’s circumstances change. All we want is a little time to allow us to rehouse the family and the property can then be vacated,” said Rita.

The county council is hoping to double the number of properties on its books in the coming year and prospective landlords are invited to contact the housing department (tel. 01 870 8425) for further information.

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