At least 130 cases of ‘squatting’ reported in south Dublin council homes last year
At least 130 cases of “squatting” in council homes were reported to South Dublin County Council (SDCC) last year, with the area of Tallaght accounting for almost half of the cases.
However, a Tallaght councillor has said that the figures are “skewed” as they include homes where a tenant has passed away and their children have not been added to the tenancy.
“I’ve never had a report of someone illegally squatting come to me but I have had people contacting me when a parent has died and their name is not on the tenancy,” she said.
"Anyone who remains in the house who aren’t on the rent is an occupier and they have to be on the tenancy for at least five years to succeed the tenancy.
"In south Dublin, we have many cases of three generations living together and when the tenant who is on the tenancy passed away, two or three children living in those homes could be seen as “overcrowding”.”
SDCC’s anti-social behaviour report revealed that 59 cases of squatting were reported in Tallaght, 40 in the Clondalkin-Saggart area, 24 in Lucan and seven in the Rathfarnham-Bohernabreena area.
SDCC housing officer Fiona Hendley told councillors that the county has seen cases of “over-occupied” homes in some cases.
“There are some cases that are ongoing – in some cases there will be an abandonment notice on a house, where people can’t just go and stay in,” she said.
“Some people are trying to succeed a tenancy – if someone on the rent has passed away, there are cases where some people are never on the rent for those homes, so a two or three-bed house could be over-occupied.”
Cllr Dunne said that it was important to distinguish between illegal occupying and over-occupying homes.
“Normally what happens if there might be a case of subletting or squatting is that the council would do a thorough investigation against that, they will board up the house and take the house back because we’re in the middle of a housing crisis,” she explained.
"These figures insinuate that we have quite a lot of illegal squatting within the county when that’s not the actual case, I think it skews the figures.”
It is important to make it easier for adult children to access their homes instead of the council taking it back, cllr Dunne added.
"Years ago, before we had the housing crisis, children were able to get the transfer of tenancy to them but that’s getting harder now, the council will look to get the property back,” said Cllr Dunne.
"If it’s the case of adult children in the house trying to access the tenancy to continue living there, I would represent them and make a case on their behalf if a parent died.
“I think it’s really important that we distinguish between the two categories – anyone reading that document will think there are a lot of illegal squatters in Tallaght alone.”