17 July 2016
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Workers’ Party councillor Ted Tynan has said that despite the fact that Cork City Council tenants are paying a total of approximately €20 million per annum in rents for their homes the council’s housing maintenance scheme has been pared down to the bone.
The Mayfield based councillor said that there is an estimated 2,000 occupied council housing units (flats and houses) in need of repair at present, many of them in very poor condition This accounted for more than a quarter of the total tenancies. Some tenants had been waiting five or six years for replacement of worn and seriously leaking doors and windows, facia and soffit etc. In some cases tenants had resorted to temporarily patching up these problems but Cllr. Tynan pointed out that as rent-paying tenants they had an entitlement to a proper maintenance service.
“The council’s failure to maintain tenant’s homes is unacceptable”, said Cllr. Tynan. “With a yearly income of €20 million in rents there is no excuse but of course this money is being used elsewhere. The number of maintenance workers employed by the City Council has been cut sharply in recent years and the service has come to a virtual standstill”.
Cllr. Tynan said that there were profitable businesses in the city centre, including pubs and shops, availing of City Council grants to paint their premises and while this may improve the look of the city it is not fair that rent-paying tenants are left with leaking doors and windows or rotten fittings.” said Cllr. Tynan.
He has called for the setting aside of a portion of rent income annually for housing maintenance.
