Council to prioritise house repairs over ‘financial constraints’

Cork County Council has said that due to "current financial constraints" it will have to prioritise repairs to council houses for the rest of the year.

A senior council official has written to councillors informing them that the council’s Housing Section will be prioritising all repair requests received, with emergency repairs being deemed the top priority for at least the next four months.

The cash-strapped local authority said all non-emergency repairs will continue to be logged once they have been reported by the tenants themselves and that it’s the tenant’s responsibility to report any maintenance issues by phoning the dedicated housing maintenance phonelines at council regional offices.

The directive has caused anger among some councillors and one, in particular, has lodged a motion that the whole housing maintenance budget be discussed when the local authority reconvenes following its summer break on September 8.

Cllr Melissa Mullane (SF) described the news as “appalling”.

She said the local authority has “an obligation” to maintain all its properties and putting some maintenance on the long finger could cost the taxpayer more money in the long run.

Cllr Mullane, who is based in Mallow and was a member of its former town council, said that over the years she saw many tenants struggling with maintenance problems.

“I have one particular tenant in Mallow promised a new back door each year since 2011. I have been told time and time again, it is not a priority. Does the door have to basically fall off the hinges before it becomes a priority?” she said.

“Without proper maintenance, properties will fall into disrepair. Cork County Council preach from the Housing Standards for Rented Houses Regulations under RAS schemes, but don’t keep the same standards themselves.”

Cllr Mullane maintained that if the council is so cash-strapped it should look at siphoning off money from other budgets, especially councillors travelling to conferences etc, which she described as “junkets.

“We are now in a situation that we have a depleted housing maintenance budget and this cannot be allowed continue,” she said.