Shock at new Council housing policy

By TONY GALVIN THE day of a local authority house for life is gone for ever, members of Galway Co Council were told this week when it was announced that 3,100 approved applicants for social housing around the county will have to reapply, with a warning that many may no longer be eligible under new rules. The message from the council's Director of Services for Housing Eugene Cummins was blunt and to the point. He told members that in accordance with new legislation all those deemed to have sufficient income will be expected to meet their housing needs from their own resources. In keeping with this new policy 3,100 applicants who have been approved for local authority housing by Galway Co Council will now have to reapply and be judged under the new, tougher, rules. Members of the Co Council were angered that applicants who had come to them for assistance and been told that their applications were successful were now going to be contacted by County Hall and told the process had to being again. There were calls for the council to honour commitments made but it was explained that there simply was not enough money available to do this. There was even worse news for those seeking local authority housing in rural areas. No more rural Council houses The message was again blunt, the council would not longer be building homes for those on the housing lists. Applicants would either have to move to urban areas where housing might become available or the council would assist them, if applicable, to rest a house on the private sector. 'The days of local authorities building one-off rural homes are over. We have a few to finish off but that's it. Some people are going to be disappointed but it comes down to the availability of central funds. We can't build if we don't have the money,' he said. Eugene Cummins stated that the new policy meant that the concept of getting a home for life from a local authority was a thing of the past. Another shock for councillors and those on the housing list is that in future the entire income of all adults in households would be assessed. There is a new income threshold of €30,000 per year or €577 per week per household. Any household with an income over €30,000 now has to find and fund their own accommodation on the private rental market. Several councillors ob­jected to the ending of the house for life concept as they feared this could mean elderly tenants who had raised their families would be required to move to smaller accommodation and hand their home over to a younger family. Rent supplement It was made clear that the whole issue of rent supplement provided for those on social welfare was being reviewed and there were major change afoot here too. In situations where the Co Council rents private housing for eligible housing list applicants, the council hopes to be in a position to dictate rents to landlords, Eugene Cummins said. Members protested that the new €577 per week income threshold would prove a disincentive for unemployed people to look for work. If they got a job paying €600 a week then they would lose their local authority home, Cllr Jimmy McClearn argued. Cllr Michael â€ËœStroke' Fahy called for a tax on the rich who he said could well afford to pay more and the revenue raised could be used to provide homes for those on local authority waiting lists. Athenry Cllr Peter Feeney said it was farcical if a student in a home took up a part-time job to help pay his way and this income was to be taken into account when judging the €577 threshold. Anti-social law He described the legislation 'anti-social and anti-family' and called for it to be reviewed. Members were told that there was a surplus of housing in the county and local authorities could not justify building more houses under these circumstances. The policy in the future would revolve around leasing and renting properties to meet social housing needs. However, in reply to concerns raised that council tenants might be evicted from their home if their circumstances improved or the household income topped the €30,000 threshold, Eugene Cummins said the council had no intention of depriving people of their homes. Many members of the council expressed unease over the impact of the new regulations, especially the impact of changes to the rental supplement system, and it was agreed to pursue the matter further with an aim of allowing the Co Council live up to existing commitments.