Council urged to buy properties from landlords looking to sell

A COUNCILLOR has called on South Dublin County Council to acquire more properties from landlords who are interested in selling to them, adding: “I just don’t think we’re moving fast enough on this”.

The issue was raised by Independent councillor for Tallaght South, Patrick Holohan, at a recent meeting of the Tallaght Area Committee.

Statistics at the meeting showed that 50 expressions of interest had been received from landlords in 2022 for their properties in Tallaght to be acquired by the council.

Five of these properties are proceeding for acquisition, 28 are under assessment, 16 have been deemed unsuitable for acquisition, while only one property was acquired by the council.

So far this year, three expressions of interest have been submitted from landlords in Tallaght to assess whether the council will purchase their properties.

In a motion that he tabled at a recent Tallaght Area Committee meeting, Cllr Holohan outlined his frustration with the lack of properties the council had acquired from interested landlords.

“In this housing crisis, we’re focused on creating [housing] all the time, and obviously I know that’s important, but we need to be concentrating on what we already have,” he said.

“If we purchase these properties, we would redirect the ‘dead money’ that’s going into them through HAP and RAS, and we’d be able to turn this money towards an investment and an asset for the council.”

Cllr Holohan criticised the lack of acquisitions last year, and a potential lack of urgency on the part of the council.

“In 2022, there was 50 applications put in from landlords for the council to buy their houses, and only one was acquired in the whole 12 months,” he said at the meeting.

“I just don’t think we are moving fast enough on this.”

Brenda Pierce from the council’s housing department responded to Cllr Holohan’s motion, outlining the reasoning behind the low level of acquisitions.

She stated that the priority need in the council is for four-bed and one-bed houses, and out of the 50 properties submitted last year, only one was a five-bed and one was a one-bed.

Ms Pierce added that rules also changed in the final quarter of last year, which allowed the council to acquire houses with tenants in situ, which led to an uptick in applications at the end of the year.

Explaining the reasoning behind why some properties are deemed unsuitable for acquisition, Ms Pierce said: “It can be a number of factors.

“[The property] doesn’t meet the needs of the tenants that are currently in the house, or they are over/under-accommodated in the property they’re living in.

“It doesn’t make sense for us to acquire a three-bed property with a couple living in it, when we have people on the social housing list crying out for a three bed.”

Other issues that prevent acquisitions include a lack of fire certificates, unauthorised extensions, notice to quit not being served on tenants, and tenants being in arrears with the landlord.

It was noted at the meeting that the council has a delegated sanction to acquire properties that are one-beds, or that allows families/people to exit homelessness and specific housing for people with disabilities or priority needs.