County council acquisition process described as ‘slow’
Major concerns have been raised about the length of time involved in the purchase of tenant-in-situ homes by Cork County Council.
Earlier this month, the Government allocated funding to local authorities to be used for the purchase of 1,500 properties from willing landlords in 2023 where tenants are receiving housing assistance payments (HAP) or the rental accommodation scheme (RAS).
Of the 1,500 properties, Cork county was allocated funding for the purchase of 60, while Cork city was allocated funding for 80.
However, the lengthy process involved in the purchase of such properties has led some councillors to question the effectiveness of plan.
Speaking at Monday’s meeting of Cork County Council, Labour Party Cllr Cathal Rasmussen asked how many properties with a tenant threatened by eviction in situ had been purchased by Cork County Council between the beginning of 2019 and March 2023.
“At the moment, as I understand it, the house must go on the open market, a portfolio will be given to the council, and a decision must be made to consider buying it,” said the Cobh councillor.
He continued: “Then we start with the visits from the engineer and the valuers and all that kind of stuff, then offers are made, and then back and forth with the normal bidding that would go on between a company and a landlord. What happens if a bidding war begins? Is the process going to be fast tracked?”
In a written response to Cllr Rasmussen’s motion, Maurice Manning, Director of Services for Housing at Cork County Council, said the option of purchasing units where tenants are in situ and in receipt of HAP/RAS was only proposed by the Department of Housing in April 2022. He said that since then, Cork County Council had considered 64 properties. Of these 64, just 1 has been purchased with a further 3 at sale agreed.
Mr Manning added that 1,074 RAS/HAP tenants were provided with local authority/AHB accommodation during the period 2019 to 2023.
Cllr Rasmussen continued: “Based on the figure of 64 - 1 bought, 3 agreed - the process is obviously very slow. Have some of the delays and the red tape been eliminated?”
Fine Gael Cllr Jack White said he knew of 2 instances in Carrigaline whereby a seller wanted to sell their property to the council to keep HAP tenants in place in their homes.
He said: “On early discussions between the council and the auctioneer, the figure the council were willing to come to and the figure the landlord wanted to sell at, were quite far apart.”
Chief Executive Tim Lucey said: “We have an initial allocation of 60 which might increase depending on what level of activity is there. We will ensure that every one of those situations is dealt with sensitively and as speedy a way as we possibly can.
“There's often criticism around legal processes and things but I can assure you there's 2 sides to every story. That's all I'll say.
“The bottom line is we have to achieve value for money and the seller wants to achieve value for money.”