An Audit of Waterford Council, published on January 26 last, explained that the Council was owed €5.4m in net arrears from social housing tenants in 2024.
The average rent was determined to be €73 per week. The audit indicated that three accounts were in arrears above €30,000, totalling €96,000. There were also 11 accounts in arrears above €20,000, totalling €253,000; along with 94 accounts in arrears above €10,000, which totalled €1,262,000.
The audit’s findings made the point that the largest arrears often occur in households with higher incomes, with higher income household representing €3.5m of the debt.
It was explained that some of these households can be found to have undeclared income, which then results in a backdating of rent.
This backdated amount often goes unpaid, which can result in significant arears.
As the report states: “This highlighted a practice of non-payment rather than inability to pay”.
While also explaining that some of these tenants frequently seek to “avail of Council schemes in respect of succession, residency and other benefits,” meaning they want to become legitimised in the property after a death or look to be acknowledged as legitimate tenants.
Payment plans
The auditor had interesting comments to make about the effectiveness of payment plans in recouping rents owed to the Council.
The document states “The Council offers those in arrears an option of entering payment plans. However, these are mostly set at a very low level, frequently not adhered to and extend for long periods, while absorbing considerable staff resources with limited success in reducing arrears”.
“Council records show that tenants regularly enter plans, when contacted by staff, and shortly thereafter exit, only to repeat the process.”
The auditor goes on to state that for there to be equity between social housing tenants those who chose not to pay must be pursued by the Council.
“…to ensure equity for all tenants it is incumbent on management to take effective actions to ensure that those who do not properly engage are robustly addressed by more appropriate responses including the remedies set out in the housing acts or contract debt judgement,” the auditor stated.
“Ever increasing arrears are not sustainable and management have not put in place an effective rent collection process.”
In response to the audit’s findings, Chief Executive of Waterford Council, Sean McKeown issued comments, which include: “An extensive review of the Rents Section, including resourcing, is underway, with particular focus on Rent Review and Debt Recovery. This exercise has included engagement with other Local Authorities in the region to examine policy approaches and resourcing models, with a view to developing proposals for improvement”.
The CEO continued: “The point raised regarding higher earners is noted and can be further examined. While the Council has initiated and will continue to initiate legal actions as necessary, including court proceedings, experience has shown this approach can be lengthy and costly, and there is no guarantee of a successful outcome”.
“A control register for occupiers, as defined under the Housing Act, is currently being developed by the Tenancy Management Section,” Mr. McKeown added.
AARON KENT
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
