Fingal tenants not told new rent charges until three weeks after increase, council heard
Council tenants in Fingal were not told their new rent charges until weeks after an increase came into effect in April, a council meeting has heard.
In November last year, councillors agreed to increase rents for the first time since 2013, raising the rate from 12pc of a tenant’s income to 14.5pc.
At an area committee meeting, Sinn Féin councillor Angela Donnelly asked Fingal County Council to provide a report confirming when council tenants received letters informing them of the rent increases and when the increases came into effect.
In a written response, the local authority said it issued an initial notice to tenants on March 11 outlining changes to the Differential Rent Scheme. A second letter was issued on May 11 specifying each tenant’s new rent charge.
The council said the new differential rent scheme came into effect on April 25 and that changes to the scheme were also communicated through social media and updates on its website.
Speaking at the full council meeting on Monday, Cllr Donnelly said: “Residents came to me saying that they were only told about the cost of the rent increase.
“The new scheme came into effect on the 25th of April, but residents were not informed of this new scheme until nearly three weeks later.
“I just think that is absolutely appalling, after all the conversations we’ve had in the chamber, that tenants were only told three weeks after the scheme came into effect what the new rent is. I think it is really poor,” she added.
Paul Carroll, FCC’s Director of Housing, said delays were caused by issues with the local authority’s IT system.
“There was a delay in us getting out the initial assessments due to problems we were having with the IT system, but we have resolved that now,” he said.
“We’ve engaged with any tenants to kind of make sure that that doesn’t cause any difficulties for individual tenants.”
Under the new rental rates, a household’s primary earner will pay 14.5pc of their weekly net income. A subsidiary earner will also pay 14.5pc of their weekly net income, subject to a cap of €60 per week.
For self-employed tenants who do not provide proof of income, a weekly income of €600 will be assumed until documentation is submitted.
According to the council, the scheme was reviewed in line with increasing management and maintenance costs across its housing stock.
It said household incomes have risen since the scheme was last reviewed in 2013, reflecting “increases in the national minimum wage and increases in social welfare payments”.
Fingal County Council manages more than 7,400 social homes across its owned and leased housing stock, with more than half of those properties now over 25 years old.
Under the revised scheme, the lowest-income households will pay approximately €36.83 per week, while the average rent is expected to be around €111 per week.