University residents’ group calls for Revenue focus on rogue landlords
The Cork University Residents’ Forum, which has identified hundreds of unregistered rental properties around UCC and CIT, said a co-ordinated blitz on its blacklist could result in a tax windfall for the exchequer.
It has organised a series of public meetings next week as part of an effort to tackle antisocial student behaviour.
Spokesman Barry Keane said there needs to be a joint approach involving the Revenue Commissioners and the Private Residential Tenancies Board to investigate houses that are rented out and not registered.
“We’ve been putting up with these kinds of problems for a hell of a long time.
“We’ve been asking the authorities for help but they don’t seem interested.
“We can’t understand why, when there’s no money in the country, the people charged with ensuring properties are registered don’t seem to have the resources to go in to blackspots that we’ve identified and put manners on these rogue landlords.”
The Cork University Residents’ Forum is an umbrella group for 25 residents’ associations drawn from around both UCC and CIT’s campuses.
Earlier this year, the group surveyed thousands of homes in the third-level districts and found that close to half of the rented houses were not registered with the PRTB.
Despite PRTB figures which show a national average of 19% for unregistered properties, Mr Keane said their survey found the average rate around UCC and CIT was as high as 43%. In some estates, the rate of non-registration was almost 55%.
He said the group brought the issue to the attention of the PRTB, which has said it does not have the resources to pursue rogue landlords.
This and other issues will be discussed at two public meetings next week.
The meetings will outline new procedures adopted by UCC to track and address social disturbances in almost 1,000 rented houses.
The meetings will also arrange for a delegation to meet with CIT to discuss complaint procedures in that institution.
The first meeting takes place in the Lough Community Centre, Greenmount, at 8.30pm on Oct 17, with the second taking place in Bishopstown Community Centre at 8.30pm on Oct 18.
Meanwhile, the forum plans to distribute about 4,000 leaflets to homes across the third-level districts advising students on personal safety, and urging them to make contact with their neighbours to avoid conflict later.
According to the latest CSO statistics, 4,611 people live in multiple-occupant “non-family” households, representing 20% of the total population of the university districts.
