‘Zero tolerance’ sought against unruly tenants

Councillors have been urged to think before they move to ban people from houses over anti-social behaviour.

Cllr Hughie McGrath made his comments after the Nenagh Municipal District Council had been asked to adopt “zero tolerance” towards tenants who trash their houses.

“People who destroy council houses, we need to have zero tolerance,” said Cllr Michael O'Meara. “People who have no respect shouldn't get those houses.”

Cllr O’Meara said that it was hard on a young couple to see people get houses and then destroy them.

“The majority of tenants keep their houses very well, but it is terrible to see an estate where one family are flouting the law,” he said. "Repeat offenders shouldn't get a house. They are a valuable asset."

He was aware that the council had an obligation to house people, but he urged that offenders be put on a programme to prevent houses from being continually destroyed.

He was supported by a number of councillors, including Cllr John Carroll who  called for a monetary penalty on those who destroyed houses.

“They are depriving other people of a badly needed house. Houses are a scarce resource,” he said.

Cllr Ger Darcy said that while the vast majority look after their house, the one thing that frustrated people was anti-social behaviour.

“It really upsets a neighbourhood,” he said, calling for the council to have a policy on such behaviour.

However, Clllr McGrath called on councillors to “take a step back” as there may be other issues involved.

“The family may need other help,” he said, calling for an early intervention policy and warning against “taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut”.

“We shouldn’t wait until a house has been destroyed,” said Cllr McGrath. “If our tenant liaison officer can pick up on that tiny minority, they should be fast-tracked.”

Cllr McGrath said that when the HSE rented a house, “we have to keep our fingers crossed because we have no control”.

Cllr O’Meara agreed to a certain extent with Cllr McGrath, but said: “I’m not for putting people out on the side of the road but there are some people who are giving us the two fingers. It is not a simple situation but we have to do something about it.”

He got some support from Cllr Seamus Morris who said that when a council house was sold to private landlords,  they were causing as much trouble and the council needed to tackle that issue.

Housing officer Sean Lonergan said the council was conscious of damage being caused to houses and outlined that the council engaged in training with tenants before they got a house.

“Anti-social behaviour is logged. We have to pay landlords and this year we have charged the tenants for damage done to private landlords. We are looking at extending this to our own tenants,” he said.

Mr Lonergan also said that the council did try to put early intervention in place.

He also said the council had a confidential phone line that people could use to report anti-social behaviour.